The Temporal Dynamics of Sensitivity, Aflatoxin Production, and Oxidative Stress of in Response to Cinnamaldehyde Vapor.

Cinnamaldehyde (CA), a natural plant extract, possesses notable antimicrobial properties and the ability to inhibit mycotoxin synthesis. This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of gaseous CA on and found that higher concentrations exhibited fungicidal effects, while lower concentrations exerted fungistatic effects. Although all strains exhibited similar responses to CA vapor, the degree of response varied among them. Notably, strains HN-1, JX-3, JX-4, and HN-8 displayed higher sensitivity. Exposure to CA vapor led to slight damage to , induced oxidative stress, and inhibited aflatoxin B (AFB) production. Upon removal of the CA vapor, the damaged resumed growth, the oxidative stress weakened, and AFB production sharply increased in aflatoxin-producing strains. In the whole process, no aflatoxin was detected in aflatoxin-non-producing . Moreover, the qRT-PCR results suggest that the recovery of and the subsequent surge of AFB content following CA removal were regulated by a drug efflux pump and velvet complex proteins. In summary, these findings emphasize the significance of optimizing the targeted concentrations of antifungal EOs and provide valuable insight for their accurate application.