Study on the Sustainability Potential of Thyme, Oregano, and Coriander Essential Oils Used as Vapours for Antifungal Protection of Wheat and Wheat Products

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper aimed to study the possibility of Eos from thyme, oregano, and coriander used as vapors for antifungal protection of wheat. The study was interest and significant because the synthetic fungicides have led to the development of fungal resistance, proved to be toxic for the environment, and caused residual toxicity in grains. Therefore, there is an increasing public demand for the development of new and safer antifungal agents for grain preservation. However, there are several problems in this study and preparation of this paper.

1. in general, the grain preservation is for food, so the phytotoxic effect of Eos vapors on the germination of the wheat should not assessed. Furthermore, the method used for this study was confusing.

First: lines 119-120: please add the temperature used for the dry of wheat in the sterile hood. This parameter might be a significant factor for the germination of the wheat.

Second: lines 121-126: please add the conditions such as temperature, humidity, oxygen content used for the containers with 300g wheat. These parameters might be significant factors for the germination of the wheat.

Third: lines 144-146 & lines 280-282: it is 7 and 21 days?

2. lines 127-130: please add the treatment method of wheat before detecting the fungal load using the direct plating technique.
3. the language needs to be improved
4. the preparation of paper should be improved, such as lines 101-102, lines 182-191, lines 232-235, lines 828-830 and so on.
5. The language of the paper is too verbose. Such as lines 237-240 could be deleted. The discussion and references needs to be refined.

Author Response

1. In general, the grain preservation is for food, so the phytotoxic effect of Eos vapors on the germination of the wheat should not assessed. Furthermore, the method used for this study was confusing.

The use of essential oils in the form of vapours is a worldwide alternative for the preservation of primary vegetable products.

For wheat seeds intended to be sowing, the use of these ecological alternatives against endophytic fungi that cause seed-borne diseases is beneficial.

That is why we considered it appropriate to study the effect of EOs vapours on the wheat seeds germination, considering the EOs type, the amount/concentration, and the time exposure.

First: lines 119-120: please add the temperature used for the dry of wheat in the sterile hood. This parameter might be a significant factor for the germination of the wheat.

The request was made:  ″ ...and dried in a sterile hood at 23+2ºC to a relative humidity of 14%‶, see line 125

Second: lines 121-126: please add the conditions such as temperature, humidity, oxygen content used for the containers with 300g wheat. These parameters might be significant factors for the germination of the wheat.

In line 127-130 the following paragraph was inserted:

‶The wheat seeds thus prepared were distributed in containers, 300 gr of wheat were placed in each container and the adjacent air volume of 395ml (78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, 0.03%carbon dioxide, 0.97% argon, 32% humidity) was used to calculate the concentration of the vapours from the air enriched with EOs″.

Third: lines 144-146 & lines 280-282: it is 7 and 21 days?

The mistake has been corrected, see line 160

2. lines 127-130: please add the treatment method of wheat before detecting the fungal load using the direct plating technique.

The request was done.see lines 136-139.  These phrases have been introduced:

″To detect the fungal load of wheat seeds exposed to EOs vapour the direct plating technique was used. In this regard, dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol (DRBC) (Oxoid, CM0727, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., England) with 2 repetitions and 56 Petri plates for each moment of determination were used in the 7th, 14th, and 28th days‶.

3. The language needs to be improved

The entire article has been proofread with special attention by a native English speaker, and I hope that the changes that we have made will resolve all concerns about the quality of the article.

4. The preparation of paper should be improved, such as lines 101-102, lines 182-191, lines 232-235, lines 828-830 and so on.

For line 101, ‶The essential oils used in the study come from the market (SOLARIS PLANT SRL, Bucharest, Romania) ″, see line 104-105

For line 182 . The paragraph has been improved and corrected. See line 206-213

″At 97 g flour obtained as above, 67 g of water and 2 g of yeast were added in granular form. The mixture was maintained for 20 minutes at room temperature and kneaded the dough again for another 8 minutes. The dough was left to ferment for 30 minutes at room temperature (23 ⁰C), respectively until the dough volume increased twice. This process was followed by modelling two buns weighing 83 g each and kept to the final fermentation (20 minutes). After baking, two bread buns weighing 62.95 g resulted for each EOs vapours treatment‶.

Lines 232-235

The mistake has been corrected, see line 261

Lines 828-830

the mistake has been corrected, see lines 880-881

5. The language of the paper is too verbose. Such as lines 237-240 could be deleted. The discussion and references needs to be refined.

The paragraph has been deleted, see lines 263-265

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Manuscrpit "Study on the Sustainability Potential of Thyme, Oregano, and Coriander Essential Oils used as Vapours for Antifungal Protection of Wheat and Wheat products" presents very interesting research results that can be used in food technology.

Detailed comments:

line 102 - no parenthesis

The methodology is very well described, on the basis of this chapter it is possible to repeat the research. I am only asking for an explanation of how the fungi were identified and were the identified strains deposited in publicly available collections?

The chemical composition of oils can be subjected to statistical analysis (eg PCA) or other methods that will allow for dividing the ingredients into groups.

The description of the results and the discussion are very insightful and logical. 

Author Response

Many thanks for the review.

line 102 - no parenthesis

The parenthesis was inserted. See line 106

The methodology is very well described, on the basis of this chapter it is possible to repeat the research. I am only asking for an explanation of how the fungi were identified and were the identified strains deposited in publicly available collections?

The identification of fungi was based on cultural and morphological and microscopic features, according to Pitt, Hocking, 2009 - Fungi and Food Spoilage.

The identified strains are deposited in the collection of the Interdisciplinary Research Platform (PCI) belonging to the Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" from Timisoara.

The chemical composition of oils can be subjected to statistical analysis (eg PCA) or other methods that will allow for dividing the ingredients into groups.

The PCA method can be applied for statistical analysis because it is based on correlation with possible traits that are determined by the variable compounds of different essential oils.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Ok

Author Response

I would like to thank the reviewers for their time and comments on the manuscript.

All the best