Fungal biotransformation of carvone and camphor by Aspergillus flavus and investigation of cytotoxic activities of naturally obtained essential oils

In this study, the biotransformation of carvone and camphor by Aspergillus flavus and the products were investigated. The biotransformation reaction of carvone by A. flavus resulted in the production of neodihydrocarveol, dihydrocarvone, 2-cyclohexene-1-one,2-methyl-5-(1-methylethenyl), limonene-1,2-diol, trans-p-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-ol, p-menth-8(10)-ene-2,9-diol, and the biotransformation reaction of camphor resulted in the production of 2 -campholenic acid, 2-cyclohexene-1-one,2-hydroxy-4,4,6,6-tetramethyl, α-campholene aldehyde. The naturally produced essential oils by biotransformation of carvone and camphor were observed to be cytotoxic to breast cancer cells while no significant inhibition was seen in the healthy cell line. Additionally, biotransformation products had the highest inhibition (74%) against aflatoxin B1. The bioactivities of biotransformation products are promising, and they can be further investigated for their therapeutic potential as active agents.