The antioxidant, antifungal and antibacterial potentials of volatile oils and oleoresin of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (leaf and bark) were investigated in the present study. The oleoresins have shown excellent activity for the inhibition of primary and secondary oxidation products in mustard oil added at the concentration of 0.02% which were evaluated using peroxide, thiobarbituric acid, p-ani...

The in vitro biological activity of secalonic acid D, a mycotoxin from Aspergillus ochraceus, was studied to assess its cytotoxicity for isolated rat liver mitochondria. Secalonic acid D uncoupled the oxidative phosphorylation of mitochondria and caused a mild inhibition of state 3 respiration. Secalonic acid D weakly enhanced latent ATPase activity in mitochondria but suppressed 2,4-dinitrophe...

Mycotoxins are microbial agents which cause food or feed-borne intoxications. Mycotoxins are undesireable compounds often found in cereal grains and forages. Production of mycotoxins is dependent on environmental conditions and agricultural practices. Moisture level ranges between 13% to 18% and temperatures between 20 C and 30 C can increase fungal growth rate during growing seasons as well as...

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin present in several food products for which levels should be reduced. Chemical, physical, and biological methods have been proposed for the detoxification of mycotoxins, biological methods being the more promising ones. In this report, filamentous fungi isolated from Portuguese grapes were assessed for ochratoxin A degradation capabilities. It was observed that 51 of ...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is the main mycotoxin that has been detected in coffee. The occurrence of OTA in coffee beans can be because of environmental conditions and/or processing conditions. Three coffee processes were evaluated (wet, mechanical and dry processes), at different stages from harvesting to storage, and fungi producing OTA were enumerated and identified. The frequency of potential OTA-p...

A total of 150 cereal samples from three regions of Southern India i.e. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu were collected during winter 2010 – 2012 to determine the ochratoxigenic fungal incidences. A total of 150 fungal isolates comprising, Aspergillus ochraceus, A. niger and Penicillium verrucosum were recovered and tested for ochratoxin A (OTA) production. Chemotype determination of fun...

Bauhinia forficata is native to South America and used with relative success in the folk medicine in Brazil. The diversity, antibacterial activity, and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes of endophytic fungi associated with this plant were studied. Plant samples, which included leaves, sepals, stems, and seeds, were used. Ninety-five endophytic fungal were isolated (18 from leaves, 22 from sepals,...