Verheecke-Vaessen, CarolMonte, J.Garcia-Cela, EstherMagan, NareshMedina, Angel2020-08-112020-08-112020-06-05Verheecke‐Vaessen C, Monte J, Garcia‐Cela E, et al., (2020) Proof of concept: could snake venoms be a potential source of bioactive compounds for control of mould growth and mycotoxin production. Letters in Applied Microbiology, Volume 71, November 2020, pp. 459-4650266-8254https://doi.org/10.1111/lam.13338http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/15661The objective was to screen 10 snake venoms for their efficacy to control growth and mycotoxin production by important mycotoxigenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus westerdijkiae , Penicillium verrucosum , Fusarium graminearum and F. langsethiae . The Bioscreen C rapid assay system was used. The venoms from the Viperidae snake family delayed growth of some of the test fungi, especially F. graminearum and F. langsethiae and sometimes A. flavus . Some were also able to reduce mycotoxin production. The two most potent crude snake venoms (Naja nigricollis and N. siamensis; 41 and 43 fractions, respectively) were further fractionated and 83/84 of these fractions were able to reduce mycotoxin production by >90% in two of the mycotoxigenic fungi examined. This study suggests that there may be significant potential for the identification of novel fungistatic/fungicidal bioactive compounds as preservatives of raw and processed food commodities post‐harvest from such snake venoms.enAttribution 4.0 InternationalArticle