Cold Plasma Silver Sputtering Strategy for the Protection of Corn Grain from Aspergillus flavus and Aflatoxin B1 Contamination

This study evaluated a new and unique method of sputtering corn grains with cold plasma to resist the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus and prevent or reduce its production of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Sputtering grains depended on the sputtering time, that is, 1, 2, and 3 min. In addition, coating the grains with silver powder and Arabic gum (Bulk), Arabic gum alone, and a control (without any addition) was done. All levels of sputtering had no impact on the germination of corn grain in the laboratory, which was 100%. The field experiments also showed 100% germination of sputtered corn seeds. There was no significant impact on plant growth, and the average weight of the plants was 613 g in controls, followed by 2 min sputtering treatment (571 g), then the 3 min treatment (569.9 g). However, plant height was highest for the 3-min sputtering treatment (150.5 cm), significantly different from all other treatments. After this treatment, the highest number of leaves/plant (42.6 leaves/plant) was also recorded with high chlorophyll content (111.61 spad.). The most encouraging result was that sputtering treatments at all three levels (1, 2, and 3 min) gave high protection to yellow corn grain against the growth and development of the toxic A. flavus compared to the controls. The average AFB1 concentration recorded was 4.1, 2.5, and 2.3 ppb in the sputtering treatments of 1, 2, and 3 min, respectively. On the contrary, the average concentration of AFB1 was 147.99 ppb in the controls.. KEYWORDS :Aflatoxins, Aspergillus flavus, Corn, Fungal diseases, Plasma, Sputtering