Toxic, but benefjcial compounds from endophytic fungi of Carica papaya

Abstract

Fungi remain a promising source of novel biologically active compounds with potentials in drug discovery and development. Tiis study was aimed at investigating the secondary metabolites from endophytic Fusarium equiseti and Epicoccum sorghinumassociated with leaves of Carica papayacollected from Agulu, Anambra State, Nigeria. Isolation of the endophytic fungi, taxonomic identifjcation, fermentation, extraction and isolation of fungal secondary metabolites were carried out using standard procedures. Chromatographic separation and spectroscopic analyses of the fungal secondary metabolites yielded three toxigenic compounds - equisetin and its epimer 5’- epiequisetin from F. equiseti,and tenuazonic acid from E. sorghinum.Tiese compounds are known to possess several benefjcial biological properties that can be explored for pharmaceutical, agricultural or industrial purposes.