Fermentative Production of Secondary Metabolites from Bioengineered Fungal Species and Their Applications

Abstract

Fermentation, since its industrial inception, has been used for commercial production of a plethora of bioactive compounds from natural sources for their use in various sectors like food, pharma, and chemical industries. Secondary metabolites are compounds produced by an organism when it is understress, which have protective attributes. Fungal strains are known to produce a significant number of secondary metabolites; these metabolites are produced during the stationary phase of microbial growth. In recent years the development of process conditions for the production or extraction of secondary metabolites by fungal strains has increased due to the potential applications of these metabolites on an industrial scale for their application in agriculture and treatment of disease. This chapter encompasses outline of solid-state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF), several secondary metabolites reported from various native and bioengineered fungal strains, and challenges in production of those metabolites through submerged and solid-state fermentation techniques. A brief note on the applications of these metabolites in different sectors is also discussed.