Chemical Composition and Antifungal activity of Essential oil of Fresh leaves of Ocimum gratissimum from Benin against six Mycotoxigenic Fungi isolated from traditional cheese wagashi

Abstract

Aromatic plants are traditionally used for seasoning and prolongation of shelf life of food. The majority of their properties are due to the essential oils produced by their secondary metabolism. Essentials oils could guarantee food safety in preserved against foods pathogenic and adulterated microorganisms. Technological application of essential oils, as natural sanitizing agents, requires the definition of optimal conditions. The aim of the present work was to evaluate some antifungal activity parameters as mycelial growth inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of Ocimum gratissimum essential oil against Aspergillus (flavus and tamarii), Fusarium (poae and verticillioides) and Penicillium (citrinum and griseofulvum) species isolated from traditional cheese wagashi. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of leaves of Ocimum gratissimum (Lamiaceae) collected in Abomey-Calavi (Atlantic, Southern Benin) was analyzed using capillary GC and GC/MS. The major compounds of the EO were thymol, g-terpinene and p-cymene (28.1, 21.3 and 16.5% respectively). The evaluation of antifungal activity of this oil has shown a significant fungistatic activity against all species tested with a MIC ranged from 800 to 1000 mg/L due probably to the prominent concentration of thymol in this EO. The results have shown the possibility of exploiting Ocimum gratissimum essential oil in the fight against moulds species responsible for biodeterioration of stored wagashi.