ISSN 2756-3391
African Journal of Parasitology Research ISSN 2756-3391 Vol. 13 (2), pp. 001-006, February, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Air Quality and Fungal Control in Dry Food Production: The Role of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume Essential Oil in Suppressing Penicillium spp.
Patrícia Pinheiro Rafael de Sousa*, Fillipe de Oliveira Pereira, Roque de Sousa Lima, Edeltrudes de Oliveira Lima
Laboratório de Micologia, Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58051-970, João Pessoa - PB, Brazil.
Accepted 15, November, 2024
The environment microbiota is a potential contamination source in the food industry, including Penicillium spp. By contrast, industry has used chlorinated solutions for the control of microbial species, but the potential antimicrobial and antifungal activity of the essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (OE) has been reported in the literature. Thus, it is justified to study this chemical activity on Penicillium strains isolated from the environment of a food industry located in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba. Tests were conducted to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), assess the effect on mycelial growth and spore germination by using the OE and a Vega® chlorine solution (VG), commonly used. MIC values obtained rangeed from 256 to 512µg/mL for both OE and VG. The observed effect on the radial growth was concentration dependent for both products. On the spores germination, OE showed higher effectiveness compared to VG, interfering with conidia germination. The OE is emerging as an excellent alternative to be used in the control of Penicillium, once VG needed a higher concentration of application and still not had the same EO effectiveness.
Key words: Cinnamomum zeylanicum, essential oil, Penicillium spp, environment air, food industry.