Naresh Magan

Cranfield University · Research Area of Food Quality and Safety

Raspberry (Rosales: Rosaceae) production in the U.K. has moved rapidly in the last 10 years to under polythene, combined with a reduced availability of broad-spectrum fungicides. Hence, the incidence of previously less prevalent diseases, such as Cladosporium (Capnodiales: Cladosporiaceae), has largely increased. This study aimed to identify the pr...

Aim: We assessed the effect of exposing apple orchard soil to different temperatures and CO2 levels on the resident microbiome of soils from a conventionally managed and an organically managed apple orchard. The key difference between these two orchards was that synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are routinely used in the former one. Methods an...

Dry rot is an emerging issue for garlic production worldwide and Fusarium proliferatum is its major causal agent. Since the disease is seed-transmitted, sowing healthy cloves is crucial. In this study, some disinfection strategies were tested on garlic seeds, including steam, dry heat, chemical disinfectants and gaseous ozone (O3). Steam reduced th...

Fusarium species can cause head blight of cereals worldwide. This is accompanied by impacts on yield and contamination of grains with mycotoxins. Regulations, with maximum limits, exist for the relevant Fusarium mycotoxins (e.g., type A and B trichothecenes, zearalenone and fumonisins). There is interest in a better understanding of the effect of k...

Purpose Apple rootstock genotypes confer different levels of tolerance to apple replant disease (ARD) and vigour to a newly replanted apple tree. A hybrid management system of rotating the rootstock genotype planted between successive generations and inter-row planting in the alleyways of orchards may minimise the severity of ARD symptoms by alteri...

Pistachio nuts can become colonized by mycotoxigenic fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus, resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs). We examined the effect of gaseous O3 (50-200 ppm; 30 min; 6 L/min) on (a) in vitro germination, (b) mycelial growth, and (c) aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production on a milled pistachio nut-based medium at different w...

There is interest in understanding the relationship between naturally contaminated commodities and the potential for the production of different useful and toxic secondary metabolites (SMs). This study examined the impact of interacting abiotic stress parameters of water availability and temperature of stored naturally contaminated maize on the SM...

Within the NutriNuts project (UKRI), we have examined and revised the Ethiopian peanut supply chain aimed at improving the current pre-harvest, harvesting and post-harvest management practices by providing affordable and innovative solutions. After harvest, the drying stage represent a critical moment for the development of Aspergillus section Flav...

Background Fusarium langsethiae is a T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins producing species firstly characterised in 2004. It is commonly isolated from oats in Northern Europe. T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins exhibit immunological and haemotological effects in animal health mainly through inhibition of protein, RNA and DNA synthesis. The development of a high-quality a...

This study has examined the pattern of mycotoxin contamination of maize destined for animal feed in different global regions over a period of 3 years (2018-2020) with up to 1000+ samples analysed in each year. Overall, >75% of samples in each of the survey years were contaminated with multiple mycotoxins regardless of the global region (Europe, Afr...

There is interest in the effect of environmental factors on the potential for bioremediation of xenobiotic compounds with extended half-lives, especially in terrestrial ecosytems. Bacteria, including actinomycetes, yeasts, and filamentous fungi have been used to enhance the degradation of xenobiotic compounds in different ecosystems. Filamentous fu...

Fumonisins B1 and B2 are carcinogenic and commonly contaminate corn and corn-based products. Analysis of such toxins using C18 HPLC column is officially accredited but still unknown if all column types can effectively separate FB1 and FB2 or not. The present study evaluated the efficiency of 5 analytical columns with different dimensions, particle...

There is little knowledge of the effect of acclimatization of Aspergillus flavus strains to climate-related abiotic factors and the subsequent effects on growth and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production. In this study, two strains of A. flavus (AB3, AB10) were acclimatized for five generations in elevated CO2 (1000 ppm × 37 °C) on a milled pistachio-based...

Chillies are an important spice in many regions of the world. During the production and processing phases, they are prone to infection by mycotoxigenic fungi, especially Aspergillus Section Flavi species and contamination with aflatoxins. There is significant interest in controlling aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in such spices to ensure they re...

Chillies and chilli-based products are important spices on a global basis. The production, processing, transport and storage phases of chillies are prone to infection by Aspergillus Section Flavi and contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), especially aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) for which legislative limits exist in many countries. We have examined the effe...

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) are a worldwide crop appreciated by consumers and known to have several health benefits (e.g. decreasing risk of cardiovascular diseases, lowering LDL cholesterol). Nonetheless, during the production chain, peanuts can be contaminated by mycotoxigenic fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, responsible...

Maize grown in both North and South America are now predominantly genetically modified (GM) cultivars with some resistance to herbicide, pesticide, or both. There is little information on the relative colonisation and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production with maize meal-based nutritional matrices based on kernels of non-GM maize and isogenic GM-ones by s...

The study evaluated the dose–response relationship of two commercial microbial biocontrol agents, Bacillus subtilis and Gliocladium catenulatum, against Botrytis cinerea both in vitro and in vivo. Inoculum doses, formulation, temperature and foliar leaf part all affected the control achieved by the two BCAs. In vitro competition assays on modified...

Mycotoxins present a global food safety threat of our feed and food. Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of certain fungi in agricultural products that are harmful to animal and human health. The presence of mycotoxins in these products depends on a variety of management and environmental factors in the field, during storage and/or processing of feed...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential intra-species variability of 3 Fusarium langsethiae strains in response to extreme climate change (CC) conditions on an oat-based matrix. The impact of elevated temperature (25 vs 30-34 °C) coupled with increasing drought stress (0.98 vs 0.95 a w ) and elevated CO 2 (400 vs 1000 ppm) were ex...

Aflatoxins (AFs) are produced by fungi in crops and can cause liver cancer. Permitted levels are legislated and batches of grain are rejected based on average concentrations. Corn grown in Southern Georgia (GA), USA, which experiences drought during the mid-silk growth period in June, is particularly susceptible to infection by Aspergillus section...

In the UK and Northern Europe, ripening oats can become contaminated with T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins, produced mainly by Fusarium langsethiae. There are indicative levels related to the maximum limits for oat grain for these toxins. The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of interacting conditions of temperature (10–30 °C) and water ac...

Bread and intermediate moisture bakery products are mainly spoiled by yeasts and filamentous fungi. The inoculum load and preservation system used determines their shelf life. To extend the shelf life of such commodities, the use of chemical preservatives is the most common way to try and control the initiation of mold spoilage of bread. This study...

Pistachio nuts are an important economic tree nut crop which is used directly or processed for many food-related activities. They can become colonized by mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus, mainly resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). The prevailing climate in which these crops ar...

Batches of grain are accepted or rejected based on average mycotoxin concentrations in a composite grain sample. Spatial analysis of mycotoxins in two grain bulks was performed to determine the spatial distribution of toxins, whether they were co-located and the proportions of grain over legislative limits. The 2D distribution of deoxynivalenol (DO...

Motivation: Fusarium langsethiae is a T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins producing Fusarium species firstly characterised in 2004. It is commonly isolated from oats in Northern Europe. T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins exhibit immunological and haemotological effects in animal health mainly through inhibi-tion of protein, RNA and DNA synthesis. The development of a hig...

The objective was to screen and evaluate the anti-fungal activity of lactic acid bacteria (LABs) isolated from Malaysian fermented foods against two Trichophyton species. A total of 66 LAB strains were screened using dual culture assays. This showed that four LAB strains were very effective in inhibiting growth of T. rubrum but not T. interdigitale...

Optimising the use of biocontrol agents (BCAs) requires the temporal tracking of viable populations in the crop phyllosphere to ensure that effective control can be achieved. No sensitive systems for quantifying viable populations of commercially available BCAs, such as Bacillus subtilis and Gliocladium catenulatum, in the phyllosphere of crop plan...

The presence of mycotoxins in cereals has led to large economic losses in Europe. In the course of the European project MyToolBox, prevention and control measures to reduce mycotoxin contamination in cereals were developed. This study aimed to estimate the impact of these prevention and control measures on both the reduction in crop losses and the...

Mycotoxins are toxins produced by fungi which are harmful to humans and animals and can contaminate staple crops. Aflatoxins are particularly toxic and can cause liver cancer so the permitted levels in foodstuffs are legislated. Batches of grain where average aflatoxin concentrations are higher than legislative thresholds are rejected or sold at a...

Pistachio nuts are an economically important commodity produced by many countries. They can be colonized by mycotoxigenic fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus, resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a Class 1a carcinogen. The objectives were to examine the effect of interactions between the two key abiotic...

We report a previously undescribed member of the Helotiales that is superabundant in soils at two maritime Antarctic islands under Antarctic Hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica Desv.). High throughput sequencing showed that up to 92% of DNA reads, and 68% of RNA reads, in soils from the islands were accounted for by the fungus. Sequencing of the larg...

Temperatures approaching or exceeding 20 °C have been measured during summer in polar regions at the surfaces of barren fellfield soils under cloudless skies around solar noon. However, despite the upper temperature limit for the growth of cold‐adapted microbes – which are abundant in polar soils and have pivotal roles in nutrient cycling – typical...

The original version of this paper was published with an error. The Corresponding author noticed that the first authors' initial is missing: this should be “A.M. Gasperini” instead of “M. Gasperini”. The original manuscript had the right initials.

There is little knowledge of the microbial diversity, mycotoxins and associated secondary metabolites in GM maize and isogenic non-GM cultivars (cvs). This study has quantified the microbial populations and dominant fungal genera in 6 cvs of each type representative of herbicide, pesticide or stacked resistance to both. The predominant mycotoxins a...

Penicillium verrucosum contaminates temperate cereals with ochratoxin A (OTA) during harvesting and storage. We examined the effect of temperature (25 vs 30 oC), CO2 (400 vs 1000 ppm) and matric/solute stress (-2.8 vs -7.0 MPa) on (i) growth, (ii) key OTA biosynthetic genes and (iii) OTA production on a milled wheat substrate. Growth was generally...

Toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins are very common in food crops, with noticeable differences in their host specificity in terms of pathogenicity and toxin contamination. In addition, such crops may be infected with mixtures of mycotoxigenic fungi, resulting in multi-mycotoxin contamination. Climate represents the key factor in driving the fungal commu...

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of treatment of Arabica green coffee beans with gaseous ozone (O3) for the control of ochratoxigenic fungi and ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination by Aspergillus westerdijkiae, A. ochraceus, and A. carbonarius during storage. Studies included (i) relative control of the populations of each of these...

We examined the resilience of strains of Aspergillus westerdijkiae in terms of growth and ochratoxin A (OTA) production in relation to: (a) two-way interacting climate-related abiotic factors of water activity (aw, 0.99–0.90) × temperature (25–37 °C) on green coffee and roasted coffee-based media; (b) three-way climate-related abiotic factors (temp...

Fusarium causes significant post-harvest quality losses and mycotoxin contamination in stored wheat but the colonisation dynamics of the grain and how this may be affected by the initial inoculum position in the grain mass is poorly understood. This study examined the 3D growth kinetics and mycotoxin production (deoxynivalenol and zearalenone) by F...

Fusarium langsethiae is a symptomless pathogen of oat panicles that produces T‐2 and HT‐2 mycotoxins, two of the most potent trichothecenes produced by Fusarium fungi in cereals. In the last few years, the levels of these mycotoxin in oat grain has increased and the European commission have already recommended a maximum level for of 1000 μg kg⁻¹ fo...

The objective was to screen 10 snake venoms for their efficacy to control growth and mycotoxin production by important mycotoxigenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus, A. westerdijkiae, Penicillium verrucosum, Fusarium graminearum and F. langsethiae. The Bioscreen C rapid assay system was used. The venoms from the Viperidae snake family delayed gr...

During grape cultivation and wine production, the most effective way to prevent ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination of grapes and wine is to control ochratoxigenic fungal species, especially Aspergillus carbonarius, using appropriate cultivation techniques. In this study, the influence of an organic farming system (OFS) and an integrated farming syste...

The aim was to decipher the temporal impact of key interacting climate change (CC) abiotic factors of temperature (30 vs 37 °C), water activity (aw; 0.985 vs 0.930) and CO2 exposure (400 vs 1000 ppm) on (a) growth of Aspergillus flavus and effects on (b) gene expression of a structural (aflD) and key regulatory gene (aflR) involved in aflatoxin B1...

Botrytis cinerea, Mucor piriformis and Rhizopus spp. are mainly responsible for post-harvest fruit rot in strawberry in the UK. However, research to date has been focused on the epidemiology and management of B. cinerea in strawberry (i.e., grey mould). A number of experiments were carried out to study the epidemiology of M. piriformis and Rhizopus...

Penicillium verrucosum survives in soil and on cereal debris. It colonises grain during harvesting, drying and storage. There is no information on the relative tolerance of P. verrucosum to solute and matric stress in terms of colonisation, or on the biosynthetic toxin gene clusters or ochratoxin A (OTA) production. The objectives were to examine t...

Wheat is the most consumed cereal worldwide and can be processed to different products for human consumption. This crop can be infected by Fusarium species, among them those within the Fusarium graminearum complex causing Fusarium head blight (FHB. The disease can severely reduce grain yield and quality under conditions of high humidity and warm te...

Wheat is the most consumed cereal worldwide and can be processed to different products for human consumption. This crop can be infected by Fusarium species, among them those within the Fusarium graminearum complex causing Fusarium head blight (FHB. The disease can severely reduce grain yield and quality under conditions of high humidity and warm te...

Manufacturing a sodium alginate (SA) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) composite loaded with curcumin (CU) was accomplished in this study by using electrospinning. These composite nanofibers were crosslinked using trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) mechanically characterized along with the morphological properties of the composite nanofiber mesh. We were succes...

Aflatoxin contamination of foodstuffs poses a serious risk to food security, and it is essential to search for new control methods to prevent these toxins entering the food chain. Several essential oils are able to reduce the growth and mycotoxin biosynthesis of toxigenic species, although their efficiency is strongly influenced by the environmenta...

In this review, we present the current information on development and applications of biological control against phytopathogenic organisms as well as mycotoxigenic fungi in Malaysia as part of the integrated pest management (IPM) programs in a collective effort to achieve food security. Although the biological control of phytopathogenic organisms o...

The objectives of this study were to determine the efficacy of metabolites of a Streptomyces strain AS1 on (a) spore germination, (b) mycelial growth, (c) control of mycotoxins produced by Penicillium verrucosum (ochratoxin A, OTA), Fusarium verticillioides (fumonisins, FUMs) and Aspergillus fumigatus (gliotoxin) and (d) identify the predominant me...

This Chapter has examined the importance of considering the impact that climate change abiotic factors will have on the relative resilience of specific biocontrol agents. The screening programmes to identify specific strains for control of fungal disease pathogens and pests do not at present take account of extreme climate events which may result i...

Biological control has become an attractive alternative strategy for the control of plant diseases to reduce the excessive use of agrochemicals and its health hazards. But a significant gap still exists between basic research involving the discovery of a biocontrol agent and its development and implementation under commercial conditions. Because BC...

This Chapter examines the approaches which have been used to identify the potential for identifying biocontrol agents (BCAs) which can compete effectively with mycotoxigenic fungi and result in the reduction in mycotoxin production. A range of microorganisms have been examined to competitively exclude mycotoxigenic fungi from the target niche The c...

This Chapter presents a review of the importance of using realistic approaches to successfully identify biocontrol agents based on their ecology and that of the fungal pathogen or pest. The major environmental hurdles are the relative range of abiotic conditions for the activity of the pathogen and the antagonist. It is thus important to have bioco...

There has been significant interest in the development of formulations of non-toxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus for control of toxigenic strains to reduce the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination of maize. In the future, climate change (CC) abiotic conditions of temperature (+2–4°C), CO2 (existing levels of 400 vs. 800–1,200 ppb), and drought st...

Little is known on the impact that climate change (CC) may have on Aspergillus carbonarius and Ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination of grapes, especially in the Mediterranean region where in CC scenarios temperature are expected to increase by +2-5°C and CO2 from 400 to 800/1200 ppm. This study examined the effect of (i) current and increased temperatu...

Aspergillus flavus is the main xerophylic species colonising stored peanuts resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs) and cyclopiazonic acid (CPA). This study evaluated the relationship between storage of shelled peanuts under interacting abiotic conditions on (a) temporal respiration (R) and cumulative CO2 production, (b) dry matter losses...

Two garlic-derived compounds, Propyl Propane Thiosulfonate (PTS) and Propyl Propane Thiosulfinate (PTSO), were examined for their efficacy against mycotoxigenic Fusarium species (F. graminearum, F. langsethiae, F. verticillioides). The objectives were to assess the inhibitory effect of these compounds on growth and mycotoxin production in vitro, an...

Cured meats are widely consumed in various regions of the world and, as for other foods, consumers are increasingly aware of the need for better quality and safety. Various fungal communities can colonise meat products during their curing with beneficial or detrimental effects depending on the dominant species. Some contribute to flavour, anti-oxid...

This study examined the effect of climate change (CC) abiotic factors of temperature (20, 25, 30 °C), water activity (aw; 0.995, 0.98) and CO2 exposure (400, 1000 ppm) may have on (a) growth, (b) gene expression of biosynthetic toxin genes (Tri5, Tri6, Tri16), and (c) T-2/HT-2 toxins and associated metabolites by Fusarium langsethiae on oat-based m...

Fungi threaten the security of food supply to human populations on several fronts. They destroy up to 30 % of crop products through disease and spoilage processes, while mycotoxin-producing fungi and opportunistic pathogens endanger food safety. Control of these fungi is vital for improving food security, but current measures are inadequate and fur...

The capacity of five white rot fungi species to degrade linuron, metribuzin and chlorpyrifos when applied both as single pesticides and mixed together in different concentrations on nutritionally poor media was investigated. Our results suggested that Pleurotus ostreatus, Pycnoporus coccineus, Phlebiopsis gigatea and Trametes versicolor showed a re...

Poor storage of cereals, such as maize can lead to both nutritional losses and mycotoxin contamination. The aim of this study was to examine the respiration of maize either naturally contaminated or inoculated with Aspergillus flavus to examine whether this might be an early and sensitive indicator of aflatoxin (AF) contamination and relative stora...

Capsicum products are widely commercialised and consumed worldwide. These substrates present unusual nutritional characteristics for microbial growth. Despite this, the presence of spoilage fungi and the co-occurrence of mycotoxins in the pepper production chain have been commonly detected. The main aim of this work was to review the critical contr...

The presence of Aspergillus section Flavi and aflatoxins in sugarcane as well as in by-products, such as molasses, sugar, yeast cream and dried yeast, collected from different fields and processing plants in São Paulo state, were investigated throughout the sugarcane production chain. A total of 246 samples was collected and analyzed and 226 isolat...

Environmental resilience of biocontrol microorganisms has been a major bottleneck in the development of effective formulations. Candida sake is an effective biocontrol agent (BCA) against Penicillium expansum, Botrytis cinerea or Rhizopus stolonifer, and different formulations of the BCA have been optimised recently. The objective of this study was...

Extreme environmental changes and fluctuations mainly driven by climate change will have a profound effect on natural food contaminants. Among these contaminants mycotoxins will be very important due the high adaptability of the producing fungal genera to the forecasted conditions. The availability of modern, high through-put –omic techniques, incl...

Aspergillus species produce important mycotoxins, in particular aflatoxins, produced by A. flavus and related species, and ochratoxin A, produced by A. ochraceus and related species and also A. carbonarius and (less commonly) A. niger. In this review we briefly discuss the distribution of toxigenic Aspergillus species in nuts, coffee and cocoa bean...

Biocontrol agents have become components of integrated crop protection systems for controlling economically important fungal pathogens. Candida sake CPA‐1 is a biocontrol agent of fungal pathogens of fruits, both pre‐ and post‐harvest. While the efficacy of different formulations have been examined previously, few studies have considered the resili...