Use of Mustard Extracts Fermented by Lactic Acid Bacteria to Mitigate the Production of Fumonisin B and B by in Corn Ears

Corn () is a worldwide crop subjected to infection by toxigenic fungi such as during the pre-harvest stage. contamination can lead to the synthesis of highly toxic mycotoxins, such as Fumonisin B (FB) and Fumonisin B (FB), which compromises human and animal health. The work aimed to study the antifungal properties of fermented yellow and oriental mustard extracts using nine lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in vitro. Moreover, a chemical characterization of the main phenolic compounds and organic acids were carried out in the extracts. The results highlighted that the yellow mustard, fermented by strains, avoided the growth of spp. in vitro, showing Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) values, ranging from 7.8 to 15.6 g/L and 15.6 to 31.3 g/L, respectively. Then, the lyophilized yellow mustard fermented extract by TR71 was applied through spray-on corn ears contaminated with to study the antimycotoxigenic activity. After 14 days of incubation, the control contained 14.71 mg/kg of FB, while the treatment reduced the content to 1.09 mg/kg (92.6% reduction). Moreover, no FB was observed in the treated samples. The chemical characterization showed that lactic acid, 3-phenyllactic acid, and benzoic acid were the antifungal metabolites quantified in higher concentrations in the yellow mustard fermented extract with TR71. The results obtained confirmed the potential application of fermented mustard extracts as a solution to reduce the incidence of mycotoxins in corn ears.