Stored and packaged food products are prone to growth of bacterial and fungal growth especially in tropical countries like India. These, in turn, produce toxins making food stuff unfit for consumption. Some of these toxins produced by fungus can be detrimental to human health. Currently, the food industry uses synthetic preservatives to prevent mold growth. Such preservatives, however, may have residual toxicity and there is a danger of the microbes developing resistance to them. The industry has been looking for plant-based preservatives. Since such preservatives have to be applied in higher doses to be effective, it leads to additional problems like changes in smell, colour and characteristics of food. A team of researchers at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has found a solution to this problem. It has developed a nano-formulation This formulation can arrest the growth of microbes at lower concentration’ It can also restrict toxin production by preventing the microbe from utilising carbon source for its growth