Natural Emulsions Based on Essential Oils as Antifungal and Antimycotoxicogenic Agents on Wheat for Bakery Industry

Ersilia Alexa; Voichita Bota; Renata Maria Sumălan; Diana Obistioiu; Monica Negrea; Ileana Cocan; Florin Borcan; Antoanela Cozma; Isidora Radulov

doi:10.3390/foods11182926

Natural Emulsions Based on Essential Oils as Antifungal and Antimycotoxicogenic Agents on Wheat for Bakery Industry

Foods. 2022 Sep 19;11(18):2926. doi: 10.3390/foods11182926.

Authors

Ersilia Alexa¹, Voichita Bota¹, Renata Maria Sumălan², Diana Obistioiu³, Monica Negrea¹, Ileana Cocan¹, Florin Borcan⁴, Antoanela Cozma⁵, Isidora Radulov⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Food Engineering, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, "King Michael I of Romania" from Timisoara, Calea Aradului No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
² Faculty of Horticulture and Forestry, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, "King Michael I of Romania" from Timisoara, Calea Aradului No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
³ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, "King Michael I of Romania" from Timisoara, Calea Aradului No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmacy, "Victor Babeş" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Sq. No. 2, 300041 Timişoara, Romania.
⁵ Faculty of Agriculture, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, "King Michael I of Romania" from Timisoara, Calea Aradului No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the antifungal and antimycotoxicogenic effect of binary and tertiary mixtures of Thymus vulgaris, Origanum sativum, and Coriandrum sativum essential oils (EOs), as well as emulsions based on EO mixtures, on fungi developed on wheat grains destined for the bakery industry. The chemical composition of the EO mixtures, the physical characteristics of the emulsions, and the influence of treatments on the proximate composition of wheat seeds were also studied. The methods used included the microbiological analysis of fungi developed on wheat seeds, the ELISA technique for determining the deoxynivalenol content (DON), gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to detect the chemical composition of the EOs, Zetasizer to analyse the particle sizes and their electric charge at the surface, and NIR analysis of the proximate composition of wheat. The chemical composition analysis revealed that thymol and o-cymene were the major components in the binary mixture of the EOs with thyme, linalool in the binary mixtures of the EOs with coriander and carvacrol, and o-cymene in the binary mixtures of the EOs with oregano. The results showed that, based on the zeta potential, the tertiary mixture ensured maximum emulsion stability, while the emulsion based on thyme and oregano was the less stable system. Regarding the antifungal and antimycotoxicogenic effect, the results showed that the highest inhibition potential on fungi was observed with the binary mixtures of the EOs based on thyme and oregano, and on deoxynivalenol (DON) when the binary emulsion based on the same EOs was applied to wheat seeds. The proximate composition of wheat seeds contaminated with DON showed an increase in protein content and mineral substances, and there were changes in the colour of the wheat seeds after treatment with the EOs. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study showed the possibility of using binary/tertiary mixtures of EOs and emulsions as healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives in the bakery industry.

Keywords: Origanum sativum and Coriandrum sativum; Thymus vulgaris; deoxynivalenol (DON); emulsions.

Grants and funding

6PFE/"Increasing the impact of excellence re search on the capacity for innovation and technology transfer within USAMV.B. Timis, oara" code 6PFE, submitted in the competition Program 1-Development of the national system of research- development, Subprogram 1.