Abstract
The exploitation of active ingredients from plant volatile organic compounds as natural gaseous fungicides shows remarkable potential for controlling fungal decay in postharvest agroproducts. Although 1-octanol is a common component of cereal volatiles, its antifungal potency against spoilage fungi in postharvest grains remains unclear. In this study, we studied the effectiveness of 1-octanol against Aspergillus flavus growth in postharvest grains and its mechanisms of action. 1-Octanol vapor and liquid contact dose-dependently inhibited A. flavus spore germination and mycelial growth at a low concentration. The simulated storage experiment demonstrated that 300 μL/L of 1-octanol vapor completely controlled A. flavus growth in wheat, corn, and paddy grains with 20% moisture content. 1-Octanol treatment irreversibly damaged the conidial and mycelial morphology of A. flavus and caused electrolyte leakage due to reduced plasma membrane integrity. It induced apoptosis along with morphological abnormalities, phosphatidylserine externalization, mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization, intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation, and DNA fragmentation in A. flavus cells. Metabolomic analysis revealed that 1-octanol treatment disrupted the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, ATP-binding cassette transporters, amino acid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. This study demonstrated the promising application potential of 1-octanol as a biofumigant for preventing fungal spoilage of postharvest cereal grains.
Key points
• (1) 1-Octanol inhibits Aspergillus flavus growth in the vapor phase and liquid contact;
• (2) 1-Octanol damages membrane integrity and induces apoptosis of A. flavus;
• (3) Metabolomic changes in A. flavus mycelia were analyzed after 1-octanol treatment.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (grant number 2019YFC1605303-04), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31772023), the Scientifc and Technological Research Project of Henan Province (grant number 212102110193), the Natural Scientifc Research Innovation Foundation of Henan University of Technology (grant number 2020ZKCJ01), the Cultivation Programme for Young Backbone Teachers in Henan University of Technology, and the Scientifc Research Foundation of Henan University of Technology (grant number 2018RCJH14).
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YLQ: Experimentation, writing—original draft, Investigation. SBZ: supervision, data curation, writing—review & editing, Resources. YYL: software, visualization. HCZ: software, validation. YSH: visualization, conceptualization, validation. JPC: methodology, conceptualization.
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Qin, YL., Zhang, SB., Lv, YY. et al. The antifungal mechanisms of plant volatile compound 1-octanol against Aspergillus flavus growth. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 106, 5179–5196 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-12049-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-12049-z