Spoilage and poisoning of foods by microfungi are a major problem, especially in developing countries. While selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) have been used for a wide range of applications including antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer applications, the effects of Se-NPs on fungal strains remain for the most part unknown to date. Our research is a pioneering attempt to evaluate the antifungal activity and antimycotoxin properties of Se-NPs (32 nm). Se-NPs at different concentrations were evaluated against the growth and mycotoxins production of three toxigenic fungal strains. The growth of Aspergillus parasiticus, A. ochraceus and A. nidulans was completely inhibited using 7000, 9000 and 3000 μg/ml of Se-NPs, respectively, while the complete inhibition in aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and sterigmatocystin production was reported by addition of 2000, 2000, and 800 μg/ml of Se-NPs, respectively. Results of this study show that Se-NPs were effective against the fungal strains tested and their toxin production. These results suggest that Se-NPs could be used as an effective microfungicide in agricultural and food safety applications against toxigenic microfungi.
Marwa Abdel-Kareem M., Zohri A. A. (2017): Inhibition of three toxigenic fungal strains and their toxins production using selenium nanoparticles. – Czech Mycology 69(2): 193–204.
