Efficacy of Acorus calamus L. essential oil as a safe plant-based antioxidant, Aflatoxin B1 suppressor and broad spectrum antimicrobial against food-infesting fungi

Abstract

Summary: The study explores the efficacy of Acorus calamus L. essential oil (EO) as a safe plant-based broad spectrum antifungal, antiaflatoxin, antioxidant food additive. The oil completely inhibited the growth and toxin production of the toxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus at 0.4 and 0.25 μL mL-1, respectively. EO exhibited pronounced antifungal activity against sixteen food-infesting fungal species at 0.5 μL mL-1. The EO showed strong antioxidant efficacy (IC50 1.06 μL mL-1) and nonphytotoxic nature on germination of chickpea seeds. The EO was found nonmammalian toxic showing high LD50 (4877.4 μL kg-1) for mice (oral, acute). The chemical profile of EO was determined through GC and GC-MS analysis. The findings strengthen the possibility of A. calamus EO as a plant-based food additive in view of its favourable safety profile, antioxidant and antiaflatoxigenic efficacy and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against food-infesting fungi. © 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2012 Institute of Food Science and Technology.