Effect of some Organic Acids and Plants Extract on Growth of Aspergillus flavus

Abstract

Abstract The study aimed to identify fungi associated with peanut seeds in different areas of Anbar, Diyala, and Kirkuk provinces and the effect of plant extracts from pine and cupressus fruits, in addition to organic acids (salicylic and butyric) in reducing the radial growth of A. flavus fungus on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium and the biomass of the fungus in Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) medium. The results showed the presence of several fungi associated with the seeds, including 14 species belonging to 12 genus. The genus Aspergillus sp. showed the highest occurrence rate in the examined samples at 61.5%, with A. flavus being the most prevalent species at 42.6%. Chemical analysis using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) on 30 A. flavus isolates revealed that 60% of them produced aflatoxins at various concentrations. The results indicated the effectiveness of alcoholic plant extracts and organic acids in inhibiting radial growth of A. flavus on PDA medium by 100% at a concentration of 2 mg/L for plant extracts and 0.01 mg/L for organic acids. Additionally, the additions of alcoholic plant extracts and organic acids significantly reduced the biomass of the fungus in PDB medium, with salicylic acid treatment alone showing an 88.3% reduction compared to the control treatment, followed by butyric acid treatment at 87.8%. Alcoholic plant extracts recorded reductions of 77.4% and 72.4% for cupressus and pine, respectively. Moreover, the results of combinations of alcoholic plant extracts and organic acids showed a significant effect on reducing fungal biomass, although not to the same extent as individual organic acid treatments, and no significant differences were observed among all the applied addition treatments.