Isolation and Identification of Spp. from Rotted Walnuts and Inhibition Mechanism of Via Cinnamon Essential Oil

Overview

Journal Foods

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2025 Feb 13

PMID 39941948

Authors

Doudou Zhang

Kangjing Luo

Shaocong Wen

Qing Zhou

Bochao Li

Wenhui Liang

Jianbing Di

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Walnuts are prone to contamination by rotting fungi. However, the microflora present in walnuts across various regions of China has not been thoroughly investigated. Cinnamon essential oil (CEO) is commonly used in food preservation because of its natural safety and strong antimicrobial properties. Additionally, studies on the antifungal potential of CEO to prevent walnut spoilage are limited. Therefore, we investigated spp. contamination in moldy walnuts stored across different locations in Shanxi, China. A total of 100 moldy walnut samples underwent traditional mycological analysis to isolate spp. The antibacterial properties and the mechanisms by which CEO targets spp. were thoroughly investigated. Five representative morphospecies were subsequently classified to the species level using Internal Transcribed Spacer sequence analysis. The dominant species were and , with frequencies of 100% and 93%, respectively, followed by , , and , with frequencies of 78%, 47%, and 40%, respectively. Overall, 358 fungal species belonging to the genus were recovered. The MIC of CEO against in vitro was 0.78 g/L. Furthermore, CEO compromised the permeability and integrity of the cell membrane, causing the leakage of intracellular components and promoting the accumulation of malondialdehyde compounds and a decrease in superoxide dismutase activity. Overall, we isolated and identified spp. in moldy walnuts and confirmed the feasibility of using CEO as a green anti- spp. agent for the preservation of walnuts.

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