Despite recent advances in antifungal development, fungi remain a devastating threat to human health and compromise viability of the food supply. Plant based antimicrobials represent a vast untapped source with tremendous potential. Herein we present the antifungal properties of more than 50 plant extracts against two important human and agricultural pathogens, Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus stolonifer. Multiple extracts exhibit promising MIC values of less than 100 μg/mL and are reported for both fungal species.
PfallerM.A., DiekemaD.J. (2010) Epidemiology of invasive mycoses in North America. Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 36, 1–53.
2.
LaiC.C., TanC.K., HuangY.T., ShaoP.L., HsuehP.R. (2008) Current challenges in the management of invasive fungal infections. Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy, 14, 77–85.
3.
LewisR.E. (2011) Current concepts in antifungal pharmacology. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 86, 805–817.
4.
McFeetersH., McFeetersR.L. (2012) Emerging approaches to inhibit Botrytis cinerea. International Journal of Modern Botany, 2, 127–144.
5.
SchusterE., Dunn-ColemanN., FrisvadJ., Van DijckP. (2002) On the safety of Aspergillus niger – a review. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 59, 426–435.
6.
FagbohunE., AbegundeO., DavidO. (2010) Nutritional and mycoflora changes during storage of plantain chips and the health implications. Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology and Sustainable Development, 2, 61–65.
7.
MachouartM., LarchéJ., BurtonK., CollombJ., MaurerP., CintratA., BiavaM., GrecianoS., KuijpersA., Contet-AudonneauN. (2006) Genetic identification of the main opportunistic mucorales by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 44, 805–810.
8.
EckertJ.W. (1978) Pathological diseases of fresh fruits and vegetables. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 2, 243–250.
9.
EilenbergH., Pnini-CohenS., RahamimY., SionovE., SegalE., CarmeliS., and ZilbersteinA. (2010) Induced production of antifungal naphthoquinones in the pitchers of the carnivorous plant nepenthes khasiana. Journal of Experimental Botany, 61, 911–922.
10.
TzortzakisN.G., EconomakisC.D. (2007) Antifungal activity of lemongrass (Cympopogon citratus L.) essential oil against key postharvest pathogens. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 8, 253–258.
11.
SinghD., KumarT.R., GuptV.K., ChaturvediP. (2012) Antimicrobial activity of some promising plant oils, molecules and formulations. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 50, 714–717.
12.
CosP., VlietinckA.J., BergheD.V., MaesL. (2006) Anti-infective potential of natural products: How to develop a stronger in vitro ‘Proof-of-Concept'. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 106, 290–302.
13.
SereyR.A., TorresR., LatorreB.A. (2007) Pre- and post-infection activity of new fungicides against Botrytis cinerea and other fungi causing decay of table grapes. Ciencia e Investigacion Agraria, 34, 215–224.
14.
OkoiA.I., AlobiN.O., Obi-AbangM., EkoM.O., OkonE.A. (2014) Evaluation of two plant extracts for the control of post harvest fungal diseases of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in Calabar, Nigeria. International Journal of Cassava and Potatoes Research, 2, 32–36.
15.
SetzerM.C., MoriarityD.M., LawtonR.O., SetzerW.N., GentryG.A., HaberW.A. (2003) Phytomedicinal potential of tropical cloud forestplants from Monteverde, Costa Rica. Revista De Biologia Tropical, 51, 647–673.
16.
SetzerM.C., SetzerW.N., JackesB.R., GentryG.A., MoriarityD.M. (2001) The medicinal value of tropical rainforest plants from Paluma, North Queensland, Australia. Pharmaceutical Biology, 39, 67–78.
SetzerM.C., WerkaJ.S., IrvineA.K., JackesB.R., SetzerW.N., (2006) Biological activity of rainforest plant extracts from far North Queensland, Australia. In Biologically Active Natural Products for the 21st Century.WilliamsL.A.D. (Ed). Research Signpost, Trivandrum, India, 21–46.
19.
DeskinsC.E., VoglerB., DosokyN.S., ChhetriB.K., HaberW.A., SetzerW.N. (2014) Phytochemical investigations of Lonchocarpus bark extracts from Monteverde, Costa Rica. Natural Product Communications, 9, 507–510.
20.
SetzerW.N., SetzerM.C., HooperA.L., MoriarityD.M., LehrmanG.K., NiekampK.L., MorcombS.M., BatesR.B., McClureK.J., StessmanC.C., HaberW.A. (1998) The cytotoxic activity of a Salacia liana species from Monteverde, Costa Rica, is due to a high concentration of tingenone. Planta Medica, 64, 583.
21.
Regulating Pesticides in Food: The Delaney Paradox. (1987) The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
22.
CorsiniE., SokootiM., GalliC.L., MorettoA., ColosioC. (2013) Pesticide induced immunotoxicity in humans: A comprehensive review of the existing evidence. Toxicology, 307, 123–135.
23.
PettisJ.S., LichtenbergE.M., AndreeM., StitzingerJ., RoseR., VanengelsdorpD. (2013) Crop pollination exposes honey bees to pesticides which alters their susceptibility to the gut pathogen Nosema ceranae. PLoS One, 8, e70182.
24.
LelievreL., GrohM., AngebaultC., MaheraultA.C., DidierE., BougnouxM.E. (2013) Azole resistant Aspergillus fumigatus: An emerging problem. Medicine et Maladies Infectieuses, 43, 139–145.
25.
Espinel-IngroffA., FothergillA., GhannoumM., ManavathuE., Ostrosky-ZeichnerL., PfallerM.A., RinaldiM.G., SchellW., WalshT.J. (2007) Quality control and reference guidelines for CLSI broth microdilution method (M38-a Document) for susceptibility testing of anidulafungin against molds. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 45, 2180–2182.
