Table 2.
Antifungal effects of plant extracts, their compounds, and nanoformulations against mycotoxigenic fungi.
| Plant source | Protective agent | Model | Mechanism of action | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native phytochemicals | ||||
| Curcuma longa L. (Turmeric) | Curcumin | F. solani, C. albicans, P. expansum, A. flavus, and A. parasiticus | Downregulation of Δ5,6 desaturase gene (ERG3) resulting in reduced ergosterol biosynthesis leads to cell death attributed by elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, Reduced proteinase secretion and inhibition of H+–ATPase activity induces acidification of extracellular and intracellular matrix inhibition of hyphae development through the suppression of thymidine uptake 1 (TUP1), Curcumin is a photosensitizer (0PS): Where 0PS + γ → singlet excited state (1PS∗) → triplet excited state (3PS∗) → H+ to a biomolecule = radicals (anion superoxide (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (•OH), and singlet oxygen (1O2) resulting in cell death by apoptosis, necrosis, or autophagy. |
Sharma et al. (2010); Neelofar et al. (2011); Moghadamtousi et al. (2014); Chen et al. (2018); Song et al. (2020); Narayanan et al. (2020) |
| Turmeric essential oil (e.g. β-pinene, camphor, and eucalyptol) | A. flavus | Fungicidal activity to destroy cellular integrity and induced alteration in mitochondrial membrane potential. | Hu et al. (2015) | |
| Curcuma amada (Ginger) | α-zingiberene, geranial, 6-gingerol, and 6-shogaol | A. flavus, A. parasiticus and F. verticillioides | Anti-mycotoxinogenic activities through induced alteration in mitochondrial membrane potential which causes loss of membrane integrity, leakage of cellular material, and inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis. | Kavitha et al. (2020); Nerilo et al. (2020); Gacem et al. (2020) |
| Chitosan | A. ochraceus | Inhibition of gene expressions that are critical for cell wall and plasma membrane homeostasis, ribosome biogenesis and other biological processes through the distraction of the integrity of cell surface architecture and protein biosynthesis. | Meng et al. (2020) | |
| Rosmarinus officinalis L. essential oil | 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), camphor and α-pinene | A. flavus | Reduces ergosterol production and biomass of mycelium. | da Silva Bomfim et al. (2019) |
| Syzygium aromaticum (Clove) | Eugenyl acetate, eugenol, and β-caryophyllene | A. flavus and A. niger | Induces cell death through early apoptosis (nuclear condensation) and late apoptosis (damage of plasma membrane) in hyphae, Downregulation of metabolic genes [secondary metabolism global regulator (laeA), lipase (lipA), and metalloprotease (metP)] responsible for fungal lipid and protein metabolism. |
Oliveira et al. (2020); Castellanos et al. (2020) |
| Punica granatum (pomegranate) | Tannins | Alternaria alternata, A. niger F. oxysporum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, and P. digitatum | Generation of ROS resulting in the destruction of the plasma membrane and mitochondrial dysfunction. | Zhu et al. (2019) |
| Camellia sinensis L. (green tea) and a variety of plants | Epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate (EGCG) | Candida spp. | Formation of lesions on the cell membrane caused by loss of cell membrane integrity, cellular and plasma membrane damage, Increased membrane permeability that causes osmotic imbalance which ultimately results in cell death. |
Behbehani et al. (2019) |
| Solanum lycopersicum (tomatoes) | Lycopene | C. albicans | Plasma membrane depolarization and cell cycle arrest (G2/M) through increased intracellular ROS, Elevated levels of cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis causes mitochondrial dysfunction, Facilitates cytochrome c release that results in caspase activation. |
Choi and Lee (2015) |
| Piper nigrum L. (Pepper) | limonene, sabinene, and β-caryophyllene | F. oxysporum and A. niger. | Disruption of cell wall and plasma membrane, coagulation of the cytoplasm, damage cellular organelles and ergosterol biosynthesis. | Castellanos et al. (2020) |
| Nanoformulations | ||||
| Curcuma longa L. and various fruits and vegetables | Nanovesicles (curcumin and quercetin co-encapsulion) | A. niger, A. fumigates, and Candida spp., | Causes the excess formation of lomasomes and plasmalemmasomes which results in cell wall and plasma membrane expansion imbalance. | Sadeghi-Ghadi et al. (2020); Rai et al. (2020) |
| Nanoemulsions (curcumin, piperine, and tualang honey) combinations | Candida spp. | Nanoemulsions (curcumin + piperine + honey) possessed favorable antifungal activity (more than 80%) against the wide range of Candida spp., due to multimodal activity. | Phuna et al. (2020) | |
| Streptomyces natalensis | Natamycin/methyl-β-cyclodextrin (N/ME-β-CD) | A. Japonicus, Gilbertella persicaria, Botrytis cinerea, and P. expansum | Inhibits ergosterol biosynthesis in the plasma membrane resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction. | Kavitha et al. (2020); Yang et al. (2019) |
| Origanum majorana essential oil | Chitosan nanoemulsion | A. flavus, A. parasiticus, F. graminearum | Inhibits the production of ergosterol followed by release of cellular ions, Inhibition of methylglyoxal, in situ inhibition of lipid peroxidation. | Chaudhari et al. (2020) |
| Clove essential oil | Eugenol (EG) incorption into β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) | Peronophythora litchii | Causes hyphal and/or sporangiophore cell wall and plasma membrane damage leading to cell shrinkage, wrinkling, and partial distortion. | Gong et al. (2016) |