Abstract
Various mixtures of gas-phase, carbon compounds volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by fungi are able to diffuse through the atmosphere and soils due to their small size. Fungal VOCs may contribute to a controversial medical diagnosis called ‘sick building syndrome’ or ‘building related illness’ (BRI). Both atopic and normal people exhibit statistically significant physiological and psychological effects when exposed to the odorant compounds emitted by fungi, so it has been hypothesized that these odorants may cause or contribute to BRI. Mold odors are caused by mixtures of VOCs, low molecular mass compounds with high vapor pressure that exist in the gaseous state at room temperature. Different species and strains of filamentous fungi produce different VOC profiles. Approximately 250 VOCs have been identified from fungi where they occur as mixtures of simple hydrocarbons, heterocycles, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, phenols, thioalcohols, thioesters and derivatives. The diverse functions of fungal VOCs can be developed for use in biotechnological applications for biofuel, biocontrol and mycofumigation. Volatiles represent a new frontier in bioprospecting, and the study of these gas-phase compounds promises the discovery of new products for human exploitation and will generate new hypotheses in fundamental biology
Highlights
Due to methodological and technological constraints in the study of fungal volatiles, it has lagged behind the study of other fungal metabolites
Since there has been significant progress about the highly sensitive detection capabilities in seperation techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) during the last half century, it has played a major role for detecting fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
MVOCs from environmental samples are mainly analysed with highresolution gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry and identified according to their mass spectra
Summary
Due to methodological and technological constraints in the study of fungal volatiles, it has lagged behind the study of other fungal metabolites. As nutritional imbalances and disorders (e.g. lack of primary carbon and nitrogen sources) lead to expression of the secondary metabolism, changes in the nutritional state may often promote or trigger the production of several MVOCs. Fungal growth in damp indoor environments has been correlated with adverse impact on health what is often referred to as ‘sick building syndrome’ [3]. Sensing technology provides a qualitative assessment of the variations in mass, optical or electrical properties of the sensor material after exposure to volatile compounds. This technology yields ‘electronic fingerprints’ that can be detected without the need to seperate the mixture into its components. It must not be overlooked that MVOCs may have other sources in the environment such as building materials, human activities, traffic, foodstuffs and smoking [12]
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