Untargeted lipidomics reveals the antifungal mechanism of essential oils nanoemulsion against Penicillium digitatum

Eugenol (EUG), cinnamaldehyde (CA), and carvacrol (CAR) have been used to prevent fungal invasion due to their potent inhibitory activity. However, nanoemulsion can overcome these limitations because essential oils are hydrophobic, volatile, and have limited bioavailability. The previous study has shown that cytomembrane lipids play an essential role in fungal infection and pathogenesis. Changes in lipid domains have been shown to disrupt the orientation of virulence determinants and influence fungus pathogenicity. Understanding P. digitatum's lipid metabolic process and control are critical for understanding its pathogenesis. Untargeted lipidomics was used in this study to evaluate lipid change in P. digitatum exposed to compound EUG, CAR, and CA nanoemulsions. There were 511 lipid species and 28 classes discovered, with the substantially changed lipids belonging to eight classes can be employed as biomarkers for antifungal nanoemulsion exploitation. Our findings shed new light on nanoemulsion-induced lipid homeostasis disruption in P. digitatum.