Assessment of chitosan biopolymer encapsulated α-Terpineol against fungal, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and free radicals mediated deterioration of stored maize and possible mode of action

This study reports enhanced efficacy of encapsulated alpha-Terpineol to control fungal, aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) and free radicals mediated deterioration of stored maize samples. The alpha-Terpineol loaded chitosan nanoemulsion (alpha-TCsNe) was characterized through SEM, FTIR and XRD techniques. The alpha-TCsNe exhibited enhanced antifungal activity against aflatoxin secreting strain of Aspergillus flavus (AF-LHP-S1) and 12 other food borne moulds as well as AFB(1) production at 0.4 and 0.3 mu L/mL, respectively. Further, alpha-TCsNe inhibited ergosterol synthesis, methylglyoxal (the aflatoxin enhancer) content and enhanced cellular contents release. alpha-TCsNe showed enhanced radical scavenging activity with IC50 value equivalent to 39.57 and 6.23 mu L/mL for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. In addition, alpha-TCsNe completely inhibited AFB(1) production in stored maize samples during in situ investigation. Overall, alpha-TCsNe holds a promising potential and can be recommended as a novel antifungal preservative to improve the shelf-life of stored maize samples against fungal and aflatoxin contamination.