Taxol as chemical detoxificant of aflatoxin produced by aspergillus flavus isolated from sunflower seed

Aflatoxins are the potent toxic, mutagenic, heterogenic and carcinogenic metabolites produced by species of A. flavus and A. parasiticus. In the present study, an attempt has been made to prevent aflatoxin production using an anticancerous drug taxol. Taxol (Paclitaxel) is a well known drug for its anticancerous property mainly to treat breast and ovarian cancers. It was obtained from Taxus brevifolia and it was also obtained from the endophytic fungi present in Taxus brefivolia [1]. Therefore, this drug is specifically selected to screen its activity on the control of A. flavus and AFB1 production at various concentrations. Among the 6 concentrations used, 3 μg of taxol was found to be suitable to control the growth and AFB1 production. The content of AFB1 found at this concentration was 6 ppm by TLC and 6.3 ppm by HPTLC. The complete elimination of AFB1 might require higher concentrations of taxol.