Inhibitory Effect of Sorbus aucuparia Extracts on the Fusarium proliferatum and F. culmorum Growth and Mycotoxin Biosynthesis

Fungal infections are among the most common diseases of crop plants. Various species of the <i>Fusarium</i> spp. are naturally prevalent and globally cause the qualitative and quantitative losses of farming commodities, mainly cereals, fruits, and vegetables. In addition, <i>Fusarium</i> spp. can synthesize toxic secondary metabolites-mycotoxins under high temperature and humidity conditions. Among the strategies against <i>Fusarium</i> spp. incidence and mycotoxins biosynthesis, the application of biological control, specifically natural plant extracts, has proved to be one of the solutions as an alternative to chemical treatments. Notably, rowanberries taken from <i>Sorbus aucuparia</i> are a rich source of phytochemicals, such as vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, as well as minerals, including iron, potassium, and magnesium, making them promising candidates for biological control strategies. The study aimed to investigate the effect of rowanberry extracts obtained by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) under different conditions on the growth of <i>Fusarium</i> (<i>F. culmorum</i> and <i>F. proliferatum</i>) and mycotoxin biosynthesis. The results showed that various extracts had different effects on <i>Fusarium</i> growth as well as ergosterol content and mycotoxin biosynthesis. These findings suggest that rowanberry extracts obtained by the SFE method could be a natural alternative to synthetic fungicides for eradicating <i>Fusarium</i> pathogens in crops, particularly cereal grains. However, more research is necessary to evaluate their efficacy against other <i>Fusarium</i> species and in vivo applications.