Assessment of the Chemical Composition, Antifungal, Antiaflatoxigenic and Antioxidant Efficacy of Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit. Essential Oil for the Sustainable Management of Toxigenic Storage Fungus Aspergillus flavus and Aflatoxin Contamination

Abstract

The study deals with the bioactive efficacy of Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit. essential oil (HSEO), against an aflatoxigenic fungal isolate Aspergillus flavus DDUOS-06. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of HSEO against A. flavus DDUOS-06 was recorded at 25 µL/mL as well as completely checked the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production at 20 µL/mL. In addition, HSEO also exhibited strong antioxidant activity and its IC50 value was found as 36.7 μg/mL which was higher than ascorbic acid (15.8 μg/mL). The chemical composition of HSEO was determined by GC-MS analysis where, eucalyptol (51.16%) was found as major component followed by sabinene (11.72%), α-cedrene (6.59%), limonene (5.71%), β-pinene (3.91%) and β-Caryophyllene (3.48%). The multifunctional properties of HSEO i.e. antifungal, antiaflatoxigenic and antioxidant activity suggest that it can be a promising plant-based alternative of synthetic fungicides and chemical preservatives.