Inhibitory Effects of Silver Nanoparticles on Growth and Aflatoxin B1 Production by Aspergillus Parasiticus

BACKGROUND Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary hazardous fungal metabolites that are produced by strains of some Aspergillus species on food and feedstuffs. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most important AF with high toxicity. Prevention of AF production and their elimination from food products is a matter of importance for many researchers in the last decades. Nanomaterials applications in medical science have been widely studied in the recent years. Most of existing researches seek the effect of nanoparticles on bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on growth and AFB1 production of AF-producing Aspergillus parasiticus. METHODS A parasiticus was inoculated (10(6) conidia per ml of medium) to potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium and then AgNPs was added and incubated with shaking at 130 rpm and 28°C for 7 days. AF was assayed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Microbiological assay (MBA) on microplates contained potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium (4 days at 28°C) at different concentrations of AgNPs (60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200 μg/ml) was measured. RESULTS The results demonstrated that a minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) equal to 180 μg/ml was determined for AgNPs against A. parasiticus. The AgNPs effectively inhibited AFB1 production at a concentration of 90 μg/ml. CONCLUSION The results obtained in this study show AgNPs at concentrations lower than the MIC drastically inhibited production of AFB1 by A. parasiticus in culture medium. The AgNPs may be useful to control AF contamination of susceptible crops in the field.