3BS12-4 Extracellular Compounds as a Potential Biological Control Agent against .

, the primary mold that causes food spoilage, poses significant health and economic problems worldwide. Eliminating growth is essential to ensure the safety of agricultural products, and extracellular compounds (ECCs) produced by spp. have been demonstrated to inhibit the growth of this pathogen. In this study, we aimed to identify microorganisms efficient at inhibiting growth and degrading aflatoxin B. We isolated microorganisms from soil samples using a culture medium containing coumarin (CM medium) as the sole carbon source. Of the 498 isolates grown on CM medium, only 132 bacterial strains were capable of inhibiting growth. Isolate 3BS12-4, identified as , exhibited the highest antifungal activity with an inhibition ratio of 43.10%, and was therefore selected for further studies. The inhibition of by isolate 3BS12-4 was predominantly attributed to ECCs, with a minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration of 0.512 g/ml. SEM analysis revealed that the ECCs disrupted the mycelium of . The hydrolytic enzyme activity of the ECCs was assessed by protease, β-1,3-glucanase, and chitinase activity. Our results demonstrate a remarkable 96.11% aflatoxin B degradation mediated by ECCs produced by isolate 3BS12-4. Furthermore, treatment with these compounds resulted in a significant 97.93% inhibition of growth on peanut seeds. These findings collectively present 3BS12-4 as a promising tool for developing environmentally friendly products to manage aflatoxin-producing fungi and contribute to the enhancement of agricultural product safety and food security.