Potential Application of Lactic Acid Bacteria to Reduce Aflatoxin B1 and Fumonisin B1 Occurrence on Corn Kernels and Corn Ears

Abstract

Fungal spoilage is an important issue for the food industry, leading to food sensory defects, food waste, economic losses and public health concern through the production of mycotoxins. Concomitantly, the search for safer natural products has gained importance since consumers began to look for less processed and chemically treated foods. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal and antimycotoxigenic effect of seven strains of <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i>. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were grown on Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth at 37 ºC in anaerobic conditions. After that, the cell-free supernatant (CFS) were recovered to determine its antifungal activity by halo diffusion agar test. In addition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was determined for each <i>L. plantarum</i> CFS by 96-well microplates method. Additionally, CFS was used as a natural biocontrol agent on corn kernels and corn ears contaminated with <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> and <i>Fusarium verticillioides,</i> respectively. The <i>L. plantarum</i> CECT 749 CFS showed the highest antifungal effect against all essayed strains. Moreover, the employment of this CFS in food reduced the mycotoxin production at a percentage ranging from 73.7 to 99.7%. These results suggest that the <i>L. plantarum</i> CECT 749 CFS could be promising for the biocontrol of corn.