10.6084/m9.figshare.7908134.v1 Manoj Kumar Manoj Kumar Abhishek Kumar Dwivedy Abhishek Kumar Dwivedy Parismita Sarma Parismita Sarma M. S. Dkhar M. S. Dkhar H. Kayang H. Kayang Richa Raghuwanshi Richa Raghuwanshi Nawal Kishore Dubey Nawal Kishore Dubey Chemically characterised <i>Artemisia nilagirica</i> (Clarke) Pamp. essential oil as a safe plant-based preservative and shelf-life enhancer of millets against fungal and aflatoxin contamination and lipid peroxidation Taylor & Francis Group 2019 Antifungal antiaflatoxigenic antioxidant essential oil Artemisia nilagirica 2019-03-28 13:34:43 Journal contribution https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Chemically_characterised_i_Artemisia_nilagirica_i_Clarke_Pamp_essential_oil_as_a_safe_plant-based_preservative_and_shelf-life_enhancer_of_millets_against_fungal_and_aflatoxin_contamination_and_lipid_peroxidation/7908134 <p>The study recommends the <i>Artemisia nilagirica</i> (Clarke) Pamp. essential oil (ANEO) as plant-based shelf-life enhancer of millets against fungal, aflatoxin B<sub>1</sub> (AFB<sub>1</sub>) contamination and lipid peroxidation with favourable safety profile. Chemical characterisation of ANEO through GC-MS, recorded 1,5-heptadiene-4-one,3,3,6-trimethyl (32.72%)as the main compound, followed by Artemisia alcohol (13.40%), alpha lonone (4.55%), benzene, methyl (1-methylethyl) (2.97%) and 1-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde,4-(1-methylethyenyl) (2.23%). The mycoflora analysis of millet samples showed <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> strain[LHP(R)-5] as the most AFB<sub>1</sub> secreting strain. The ANEO inhibited growth and AFB<sub>1</sub> production by the toxigenic strain at 1.4 and 1.0 µL mL<sup>−1</sup>, respectively, and also possess broad fungitoxic spectrum. The decrement in membrane ergosterol content, enhanced leakage of cellular Ca<sup>2+</sup>, K<sup>+</sup> and Mg<sup>2+</sup> ions along with SEM and TEM study of ANEO-treated cell denotes plasma membrane as antifungal site of action. The ANEO also showed strong antioxidant activity as determined by DPPH<sup>•</sup> and ABTS<sup>•+</sup> assays having IC<sub>50</sub> value 2.51 and 1.07 µL mL<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. More than 70.78% protection of Ragi samples from fungal contamination was observed during <i>in situ</i> trial. The ANEO showed favourable safety profile with high LD<sub>50</sub> value (7528.10 µL kg<sup>−1</sup>) for male mice and also exhibited non-phytotoxicity for Ragi seeds germination.</p>