Plants for Plants: Would the Solution Against Mycotoxins be the Use of Plant Extracts?

This chapter describes: the main mycotoxigenic filamentous fungi and their mycotoxins, the plant extracts used for the biocontrol of mycotoxin contamination, the mechanismsof action involved in the inhibition of fungal growth and/or mycotoxin contamination by plant extracts. Fusarium species widely contaminates grain products and are one of the most dangerous risks in crop productions. The contamination with Fusarium species is usually linked to infection and accumulation of harmful mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes, zearalenone and fumonisins. The genus Aspergillus is dominant among food deteriorating moulds. Aspergillus species widely occur in foodstuffs, particularly in starchy cereal grains such as wheat, maize, sorghum, rice, barley and millet where they may produce toxic secondary metabolites like aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. Plants extracts like essential oils are mixtures of molecules characterized by their poor solubility in water and high hydrophobicity.