Innovative Antifungal and Food Preservation Potential of Eucalyptus citriodora Essential Oil in Combination with Modified Potato Peel Starch

The quest for natural preservation systems is on the rise due to health hazards associated with synthetic preservatives. The current study explores a significant research gap by investigating the antifungal potential of <i>Eucalyptus citriodora</i> essential oil (EO) and modified potato peel starch (M-PPS)-based coatings to control the fungal contamination in peanut kernels, providing a sustainable food preservation system. Potato peel starch was extracted by water steeping and modified by autoclaving. <i>E. citriodora</i> EO was extracted from leaves by steam distillation and chemically characterized using a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The antifungal potential of EO was evaluated by radial growth inhibition assay (RGI). EO completely inhibited the growths of <i>Penicillium griseofulvum</i> and <i>Aspergillus niger</i> at a concentration of 3.125 µL/mL, which was marked as the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC). EO induced cellular leakage from fungal cells, and hyphae became pitted, indicating the strong antifungal potential of EO. EO (2 ×MIC)-treated rice seeds showed complete inhibition of <i>A. niger</i> after 7 days of incubation, and in the control treatments, all the rice seeds were contaminated (100% contamination index). M-PPS and EO-based coatings controlled the growth of <i>P. griseofulvum</i> in peanut kernels. After incubation for 7 days, control treatments were fully contaminated with fungal growth, whereas the M-PPS and EO-based coatings restricted the growth of fungi in peanut kernels. The M-PPS and EO-based preservation system can be used for the preservation of perishable food products.