## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effect of Beetroot Extracts on Alternaria Mycotoxins Production  
The KH3, NO3, and Alam1 isolates were used in this experiment according to their observed pathogenicity and their different abilities to produce mycotoxins (Table 1). The results showed that BEE was more effective in reducing the TeA and AME mycotoxins (Figures 1 and 2) than the methanol extract. That might have been due to the presence \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Isolate** & **Conidial Length (\(\mu\)m)** & **Conidial Width (\(\mu\)m)** & **L/W Ratio** & **Pathogenicity** & **Accession Number** \\ \hline KH1 & 27.32 & 5.30 & 5.15 & High & MN592776 \\ KH3 & 34.45 & 4.68 & 7.36 & Moderate & MN592775 \\ NO1 & 30.58 & 5.34 & 5.73 & Moderate & MN592772 \\ NO3 & 35.48 & 6.10 & 5.82 & High & MN592771 \\ W2 & 29.6 & 7.20 & 4.11 & Low & MN592773 \\ W3 & 32.77 & 6.89 & 4.76 & High & MN592774 \\ Alam1 & 26.75 & 4.83 & 5.54 & Low & MN592777 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Morphological characteristics of _Alternaria alternata_ isolates, their pathogenicity and GenBank accession numbers. of the antioxidants betalains, which are more stable in ethanol extracts than in methanol extracts. To our knowledge, no data are available in the literature about the effect of the two extracts on _A. alternata_ mycotoxin production. However, several studies have examined the antifungal activity of different extracts on the _Alternaria_ spp. [33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]. The ability of plant extracts to reduce fungal growth did not mean that they could stop or decrease the mycotoxin synthesis. Consequently, if the fungus can still grow in the presence of a plant extract, the toxin biosynthesis may be accelerated. Inhibitory actions on growing fungi are also not always correlated with declines in mycotoxin concentrations [34]. While _Alternaria_ is a common food product contaminant, its toxins are little documented, possibly because a control of its presence in food is unavailable. This issue is particularly important in the context of potato products. In developing countries, fruits with high fungal contamination are frequently used for processed food products, resulting in higher mycotoxin accumulation. The amount of synthesized mycotoxin varied with the toxin, the extract concentration, and the isolate studied. BEE and BME showed high inhibition of production of these metabolites by _A. alternata_ at most doses. Consequently, these fractions could have promising applications in treatments of foods where the two mycotoxins can simultaneously accumulate. It is worth mentioning that certain extracts increased the synthesis of some of these metabolites in comparison with corresponding control values [40]. Moreover, some of them resulted in an inhibition at a particular concentration but enhanced toxin production at another. BEE at a 150 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration was the most effective in reducing TeA produced by the KH3 isolate. In comparison, BEE at 300 \(\upmu\)g/mL was very promising in reducing TeA produced by Alam1 and NO3. BME decreased the mycotoxin production by 66.99% to 99.79%. The highest TeA reduction rate (99.39%) was observed in the KH3 isolate with 150 \(\upmu\)g/mL BME treatment, while the most significant AME reduction rate (99.79%) was shown in the NO3 isolate with 150 \(\upmu\)g/mL BME treatment. In the same way, BEE ranged from 95.60% to 99.91% mycotoxin reduction. The highest TeA reduction rate (99.91%) was reported in the KH3 isolate with 150 \(\upmu\)g/mL BME treatment. In comparison, the most surprising AME reduction rate (99.68%) was shown in Alam1 isolate with 75 \(\upmu\)g/mL BEE treatment. Our results were in accordance with the findings of [PERSON] [41]. It is interesting to remark that in different isolates of _A. alternata_, the TeA and AME productions were affected differently. When the BEE concentration was increased, at least the same reduction--or, in some cases, a lower one--was observed in the mycotoxin accumulation, compared with the control (Figures 1 and 2).