Scavenging activity of secondary metabolites extracted from food borne fungi

Shimaa R. Hamed*, Manal G. Mah

Abstract

Antioxidants are natural compounds known for their high scavenging activity toward free radicals that can damage the healthy cells of human body. Therefore, this study aims to produce anti-oxidants from eight isolates belonging to seven different species of fungi (Aspergillus candidus, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium Sp, Penicillium lividum, and Penicillium brevicompactum) isolated from food and feed stuffs. Each individual isolate was cultivated on synthetic medium (MYGP medium) to be extracted by two different methods: aqueous extraction and ethyl acetate extraction. The anti-oxidant activity was measured using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl 1-2-picrylhydrazyl) to determine the isolate that give the highest activity. The isolates that recorded the highest antioxidant activity was selected for further identification studies. The result showed that the highest antioxidant activity was in the ethyl acetate solution after 120 minutes. Interestingly, the Aspergillus species gave the highest antioxidant activity, especially, Aspergillus terreus (93.20%).