Assessment of Inhibitory Effects of Citrus Flavanones on Deoxynivalenol Production Using Response Surface Methodology

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin produced mainly by Fusarium graminearum in grains such as wheat and maize. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effects of citrus flavanones including, naringin (NAR), hesperidin (HES), and neohesperidin (NEO) on deoxynivalenol production using Response Surface Methodology (RSM).
The studied flavanones were extracted from residues of citric industries and assayed in rice media inoculated with F. graminearum. After Gas Chromatography (GC) analysis, RSM was applied to find the optimal flavanones concentrations that would lead to total inhibition of DON production. The four levels studied were 0, 0.11, 0.21, and 0.42 mmol/kg rice in dry basis, for each flavanone. Statistical analysis was performed using the statgraphics centurion XV package, version 15.2.6 (StatPoint Technologies, USA). Experimental design consisted in ten factorial points was evaluated in triplicate and used in the model.
All flavanones and their mixtures significantly decreased the accumulation of DON in rice media respect to control (p Using RSM, the citric flavanones studied in this work, was proved to be effective for total inhibition of DON accumulation.