Degradation of fumonisin B1 by cinnamon essential oil

Fumonisins are group of mycotoxins produced mainly by Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum. They frequently contaminate corn and corn based products, and cause several diseases in humans and animals. Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is the most prevalent fumonisin and is highly toxic to human and animal. The essential oils from plants offer a hope in the prevention and detoxification of these mycotoxins. The present study investigates the degradation effect of cinnamon, citral, Litsea cubeba, clove, eucalyptus, anise, spearmint and camphor oils on FB1. The degradation level of FB1 was determined by ELISA. Cinnamon oil proves to be effective essential oil in reducing FB1, followed by citral, eugenol oil, eucalyptus oil, anise oil and camphor oil. The effects of incubation time, and temperature with respect to the concentration of cinnamon oil on their degradation effect on FB1 by cinnamon oil were investigated. Results showed that at 120 h time with the 280 μg/ml concentration of cinnamon oil, under 30 °C is optimal for FB1 reduction. Under optimal condition, FB1 was reduced from 15.03 to 0.89 μg/ml (94.06%). Cinnamon oil could be a promising candidate in the detoxification and control of FB1 in corn based products.