EXPLORING THE ANTIMYCOTOXIGENIC POTENTIAL OF ACALYPHA INDICA AND BIDENS PILOSA

Aflatoxins are highly toxic and immunosuppressive secondary metabolites produced mainly by fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus on food and agricultural commodities. Detoxification of these mycotoxins has been considered as one of the best strategies to prevent contamination and to retain the nutritive properties of feedstuffs and agricultural products while storage. The objective of the study is to evaluate the antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic potency of the Acalypha indica and Bidens pilosa crude leaf extracts concerning Aspergillus species. The minimum concentration required to inhibit the fungal mycelial growth were determined separately for each plant extract and compared with each other in maize sample. Further, the aflatoxin detoxification efficacy of the two plant extracts was screened by thin-layer chromatography. The inhibitory effect on the mycelial growth of A. flavus was measured for each plant extract. Among the two leaf extracts, Bidens pilosa showed higher inhibitory effect and detoxification potential when compared with the extract of Acalypha indica. Thus, this study concludes that phytoconstituents derived from medicinal plants could be used as a substitute for synthetic fungicides and can act as natural preservatives.