Chapter 9 - Fungal secondary metabolites and their biotechnological applications for human health

Abstract

Fungi are known to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites such as pigments, antibiotics, vitamins, amino acids, and organic compounds that have several useful biological activities such as antifungal, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer and also have wide range of biotechnological applications in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries as well as in agriculture. Antibiotics such as β-lactam, cholesterol-lowering drug, lovastatin, and penicillin are some of the important fungal metabolites that have diverse biotechnological applications in pharmaceutical industries and in the field of medicine. On the other hand, several of these fungal secondary metabolites also have potentially harmful biological activities such as mycotoxins and phytotoxins. There are various biosynthetic pathways followed by the fungi to produce secondary metabolites such as β-lactam, cyclic peptide, diterpenes, diketopiperazines, polyketides, sesquiterpenes, and a combination of these pathways. There are wide ranges of fungal communities producing potentially important secondary metabolites including Penicillium notatum, Cephalosporium acremonium, Penicillium griseofulvum, Streptomyces griseus, Monascus purpureus, Micromonospora purpurea, Tolypocladium inflatum, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, and Beauveria bassiana. The potential biological applications of secondary metabolites of fungi will be useful for sustainable development.