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Repurposing of natural compound derivatives for control of foodborne fungi and mycotoxins
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1  Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710, USA
Academic Editor: Antonios Koutelidakis

Abstract:

Controlling agricultural or foodborne fungal pathogens is becoming increasingly problematic since effective agents available for antifungal treatment are often very limited. The development of new antifungal agents is expensive and time-consuming; therefore, an alternative approach, termed antifungal drug or compound repurposing (ADCR), has recently been employed. ADCR is the repositioning of already marketed chemicals approved for treating other diseases or for use as food additives (flavorings, antioxidants, etc.) to control fungi. One of the merits of ADCR is that the mechanisms of action, cellular targets and safety of the chemicals have already been characterized.

We investigated the antifungal efficacy of the natural product salicylaldehyde (SA), a generally-recognized-as-safe (GRAS) compound, in corn and pistachio kernels. SA has been utilized as a food flavoring agent or an intermediate for synthesizing pharmaceuticals. Since SA emits volatiles, test crops were remotely exposed to SA (0.1 to 1.0 mM) for 1, 2 and 3 days (Petri plates, raised bed containers). This transient exposure of crops to SA would allow for minimal deposition of chemicals on crop surfaces. The results showed that SA treatment (0.5 mM or higher) for 3 days almost completely inhibited the growth of fungi (aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus, seedborne filamentous fungi). We also studied the antifungal activity of 4-isopropyl-3-methylphenol (4I3M), a derivative of the natural products thymol and carvacrol, against A. flavus and seedborne fungi, and determined that 4I3M possesses potent antifungal and anti-aflatoxigenic activity against A. flavus, while it exhibites less antifungal efficacy against seedborne filamentous fungi compared to SA.

We concluded that natural compounds that do not have any significant environmental impact are a potent source of antifungal/anti-mycotoxigenic agents, either in their nascent form or as lead structures for more effective derivatives.

Keywords: Antifungal; Aspergillus flavus; Drug/compound repurposing; 4-Isopropyl-3-methylphenol; Mycotoxins; Natural products; Salicylaldehyde
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