Advance in study on plant essential oils for their inhibitory effects on fungal growth and mycotoxin synthesis / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Fungi and mycotoxins contamination in food, fruits, and vegetables, Chinese herbal medicines and agricultural commodities has not only led to a huge waste of resources and economic losses, but also posed the potential threats for human's safety and health, which has been widely concerned in the world. The researchers are trying their best to look for the scientific and effective methods to control the fungi growth and mycotoxins production in these matrices. Although some synthetic chemicals have been usually used as fungicides, they were still prohibited owing to the disadvantages of residues, public hazards, drug resistance, and so on. Many plant essential oils (PEOs), because of their advantages including broad-spectrum antifungal activity, high volatility, short degradation period, minimal residues, non-toxicity or low toxicity, friendly to human and environment, have the attractive attention of scientific community towards the development of eco-friendly botanical fungicides. The paper reviewed the distribution of PEOs, together with their inhibitory effects on fungal growth and mycotoxins production, antifungal spectrum, safety assessment, and antifungal mechanism to provide the scientific evidences for developing effective green fungicides.