## 3 Results and Discussion  
_A. calamus_ and _C. vulgaris_ are well known medicinal plants, extensively used and studied nowadays [14; 25]. _L. minuta_ and _S. dimorphus_ are promising (albeit less popular) plants with medicinal properties [18; 19; 26]. As a whole, studies of plant extracts with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities have been increasing over the last decades. Nevertheless, while there are some studies on the antioxidant activity of _A. calamus_ and _C. vulgaris_, the antifungal effects of these plants are not sufficiently described. Moreover, the antioxidant and antifungal properties of _L. minuta_ and _S. dimorphus_ are not studied, with the only exception being the experiment of [PERSON] et al. (2019), which evaluated the activities of the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of _L. minuta_ on several mold strains. Because of the major differences of the type of solvents, concentrations of the extracts and methods of extraction reported by various authors, few studies could be used for comparison with our experimental results. Antifungal Potential of Methanolic Extracts from Acorus calamus, Chlorella vulgaris, Lemma minuta and Scenedesmus dimorphus  
Mycotoxicigenic fungi are perhaps the most important pathogens of global significance in the context of food security and safety. They can reduce the quality and quantity of production (e.g., corn, rice, and peanuts) while producing mycotoxin metabolites that could be carcinogenic in both damaged and apparently healthy products ([PERSON] et al., 2017). Therefore, strategies to eliminate and inactivate mycotoxins or prevent them from contaminating food and feed are urgently needed. One such strategy is the extermination of mycotoxicigenic fungi with the help of antifungal agents, which prevents the appearance of mycotoxins ([PERSON] et al., 2018; [PERSON] et al., 2018). According to the experimental data (Table 1), _A. calamus_ methanolic extracts exhibited antifungal activity against eight of the nine strains of mycotoxicigenic fungal species examined, measured in terms of the diameter of inhibition zones (mm, mean \(\pm\) SD), as follows: _F. oxysporum_ (10.3 \(\pm\) 0.6), _A. flavus_ (10 \(\pm\) 0), _A. niger_ (9.3 \(\pm\) 0.3), _F. graminearum_ (9.2 \(\pm\) 0.3), _A. chloraeus_ (8.7 \(\pm\) 0.3), _Alt. alternata_ (8.2 \(\pm\) 0.3), _A. carbonarius_ (7.8 \(\pm\) 0.3) and _P. chrysogenum_ (7.7 \(\pm\) 0.3). Most of the inhibition zones diameters of rhizome extracts are significantly different from the negative control (methanol) values (\(p\leq\) 0.05). The activity of rhizome extracts was lower than the activity reported by [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2018), who found that 200 \(\mu\)L 10% ethyl acetate extract of _A. calamus_ was active against _P. chrysogenum_, _A. niger_ and _A. flavus_ with inhibition zones of 22 mm, 25 mm and 28 mm, respectively. [PERSON] et al. (2018) found that 10% methanolic extracts of _A. calamus_ inhibited the growth of _A. niger_ with an inhibition zone of 13 mm. [PERSON] et al. (2018) established that very high concentrations of ethanolic extract (250 mg/mL) of _A. calamus_ were active against _F. oxysporum_ with a zone of inhibition of 11.8 mm. Supercritical extracted _A. calamus_ rhizome oil demonstrated inhibitory activity against _A. Aspergillus_ and _Penicillium_ species, with inhibition zones of 11.5 mm and 10.3 mm, respectively ([PERSON] et al., 2018). The available literature is missing data about the activity of _A. calamus_ rhizome extracts against _F. graminearum_, _A. ochracus_, _A. carbonarius_, _A. parasiticus_ and _Alt. alternata_. Methanolic extracts of _C. vulgaris_ demonstrated antifungal activity against _A. niger_, _P. chrysogenum_ and _Alt. alternata_ (although the levels of antifungal activity were not high), with the diameters of the inhibition zones of 9.2 \(\pm\) 0.3 mm, 8.3 \(\pm\) 0.3 mm and 7 \(\pm\) 0 mm, respectively (Table 1). [PERSON] et al. (2019) also reported a lack of activity of the methanolic extracts of _C. vulgaris_ against _A. ochracus_ and _F. graminearum_.