Fungal Contamination of Automobile Air Conditioner System with Reference to Aqueous Extract Effect of Dodonaea viscosa on Aspergillus fumigatus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24086/cuesj.v9n1y2025.pp32-35Keywords:
Automobile, Air conditioner, antifungal activity, Dodonaea viscosa, water extractAbstract
One of the indoor environments where people spend a lot of time these days is public and private transportation, and there is more and more attention to explaining the correlation between human health and indoor air quality in transportation. The present investigation aims to identify the fungus species in car cooling dispensers and quantify the antifungal efficacy of an aqueous crude extract derived from Dodonaea viscosa leaves and seeds against Aspergillus flavus. Fifty swab samples were obtained in 8 h and then they were cultivated on Sabourad’s dextrose agar medium. The emerging fungi were Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., Ulocladum spp., Alternaria spp., and white and black mycelia. The occurrence, frequency, and importance value index were counted. The predominant isolate was A. fumigatus (importance value index = 36.2). In vitro, fungal growth suppression was evaluated using the hot water extract of D. viscosa seeds and leaves. 20% and 40% (w/v) concentrations were made. The results showed that seed extract (40%) presented the highest activity against the predominant isolate Aspergillus fumigatus.
Downloads
References
M. Gołofit-Szymczak, A. Stobnicka-Kupiec and R. L. Górny. Impact of air-conditioning system disinfection on microbial contamination of passenger cars. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, vol. 12, pp. 1127-1135, 2019.
W. K. Jo and J. H. Lee. Airborne fungal and bacterial levels associated with the use of automobile air conditioners or heaters, room air conditioners, and humidifiers. Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 101-107, 2008.
R. P. Vonberg, P. Gastmeier, B. Kenneweg, H. Holdack-Janssen, D. Sohr and I. F. Chaberny. The microbiological quality of air improves when using air conditioning systems in cars. BMC Infectious Diseases, vol. 10, p. 146, 2010.
R. B. Simmons, J. A. Noble, L. Rose, D. L. Price and D. G. Ahearn. Fungal colonization of automobile air conditioning systems. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, vol. 19, pp. 150-153, 1997.
R. B. Simmons, L. J. Rose, S. A. Crow and D. G. Ahearn. The occurrence and persistence of mixed biofilms in automobile air conditioning systems. Current Microbiology, vol. 39, pp. 141-145, 1999.
S. M. Al-Bader, L. Q. Ismael, H. S. Ali, A. S. Al-Tami and A. A. Saleh. Antifungal activity of essential oils vapors against fungi isolated from car air-conditioner filters. Medico-Legal Update, vol. 21, no. 4, p. 301, 2021.
S. Aquino, J. E. A. de Lima, A. P. B. do Nascimento and F. C. Reis. Analysis of fungal contamination in vehicle air filters and their impact as a bioaccumulator on indoor air quality. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 1143-1153, 2018.
K. H. Domsch, W. Gams and T. H. Anderson. Compendium of Soil Fungi. Vol. 1. Academic Press, London, 1980.
G. D. Hoog, J. Gene, J. F. M. J. Guarro and M. J. Figueras. Atlas of Clinical Fungi. 2nd ed. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, p. 1126, 2000.
S. M. Al-Bader, A. Q. Aleryani and A. A. Almutaa. A study on soil thermophilic and thermotolerant fungi in Thamar-Yemen. Journal of Agricultural Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, vol. 1, 1-44, 2017.
R. Prayudyaningsih, C. A. Prasetyawati and H. Suryanto. Diversity and association of arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) in landslide-impacted area. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. vol. 807, no. 2, p. 022046, 2021.
A. Q. Al Eryani and S. M. Al-Bader. The antimicrobial effect of aqueous and ethanol extracts of stems, roots and leaves of Salvadora persica on oral microbes. Assiut Journal of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 97-104, 2012.
A. Gahlaut, R. Dabur and A. K. Chhillar. Anti-Aspergillus activity of selected medicinal plants. Journal of Pharmacy Research, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 419-422, 2013.
D. M. C. E. Silva. Incidence of the genus Aspergillus and its species in the atmosphere of Sao Paulo, Brazil and its relations with the environment. Journal of Pollution, vol. 1, 1-5, 2020.
F. Al Salameen, N. Habibi, S. Uddin, K. Al Mataqi, V. Kumar, B. Al Doaij, S. Al Amad, E. Al Ali and F. Shirshikhar. Spatio-temporal variations in bacterial and fungal community associated with dust aerosol in Kuwait. PLoS One, vol. 15, no. 11, p. e0241283, 2020.
S. M. Al-Bader, A. D. A. Aljoborey, A. Q. Ahmed and A. Yahia. A cross-sectional study on the 24-hour variation of fungal pollution in the atmosphere of Erbil City, Iraq. International Journal of Membrane Science and Technology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1170-1176, 2023.
S. M. Saleem and Z. Zefenkey. The airborne mycobiota of a dust storm in comparison with a calm climate in Erbil city-Iraq. Science Journal of University of Zakho, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 45-49, 2023.
S. M. Al-Bader, L. Q. Ismael and A. A. Ahmood. Fungal contamination of airconditioner units in five hospitals of Erbil province-Kurdistan region/Iraq. Science Journal of University of Zakho, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 146-149, 2018.
S. M. Al-Bader, A. A. Osman and S. Hussainnagad. Fungal contamination of air-conditioned air flow with special reference to antifungal activity of eight plant oil vapor against Aspergillus niger. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. vol. 1660, no. 1, p. 012001, 2020.
S. Venkatesh, Y. S. R. Reddy, M. Ramesh, M. M. Swamy, N. Mahadevan and B. Suresh. Pharmacognostical studies on Dodonaea viscosa leaves. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 83-88, 2008.
M. Pkashatel and M. M. Coogan. Antifungal activity of the plant Dodonaea viscosa var. Angustifolia on Candida albicans from HIVinfected patients. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 118, no. 1, pp. 173-176, 2008.
T. Riaz, A. M. Abbasi, T. Shahzadi, M. Ajaib and M. K. Khan. Phytochemical screening, free radical scavenging, antioxidant activity and phenolic content of Dodonaea viscosa. Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 423-435, 2012.
M. N. Malik, I. U. Haq, H. Fatima, M. Ahmad, I. Naz, B. Mirza and N. Kanwal. Bioprospecting Dodonaea viscosa Jacq.; A traditional medicinal plant for antioxidant, cytotoxic, antidiabetic and antimicrobial potential. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, vol. 15, no. 3, p. 103688, 2022.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Salah M.S. Al-Bader, Zean Zefenkey, Muhsin H. Ubeid
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
