Abstract

DIVERSITY, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF BIOACTIVE METABOLITES IN ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI FROM ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS L.

Shubha Jagannath*, Manjunatha A. T., Ranjini M. V., Narasimha Murthy K., Srinivas Chowdappa and Raveesha H. R.

ABSTRACT

The Rosmarinus officinalis L. is an aromatic medicinal plant belonging to Lamiaceae family. Rosemary extracts are used in food industry as flavor enhancer also, exhibit antioxidant properties and used in treatment of many ailments. The present study was done to evaluate endophytic fungal diversity, phytochemical analysis, antioxidant activities and GCMS/MS study of endophytic fungi allied with different parts of R. officinalis. The total of 347 endophytic fungi belonging to twenty-three species was isolated from 400 tissue fragments examined. The colonization rate and isolation rate was greatest in leaf followed by seed, root and stem. The phytochemical analysis revealed that, 60% of endophytic fungi demonstrated the presence of flavonoids, 40% - glycosides, 37.14% - phenols, 25.17 % - volatile oils, 17.14% - terpenoids, 5.71% - resins and alkaloids, 2.85% tannins. The endophytic fungus from leaf, identified by molecular method as Aspergillus austwickii, NCBI GenBank accession number –OP805350; showed highest TPC of 20.19 ± 0.52 μg Gallic acid equivalent / ml., flavonoids (TFC) of 38.92 ± 0.04 μg QE / ml., % DPPH scavenging activity of 87.14 ± 0.04%, % H2O2 scavenging activity of 80.82 ± 0.91 %, ABTS scavenging activity of 78.23 ± 0.07% and % FRAP activity of 87.01 ± 0.49%. The GC-MS/MS chromatogram of A. austwickii crude methanol extract showed the presence of ten compounds using National Institute standard and Technology (NIST) database. The metabolites detected were Trioxonane, Styrene, Decane, Dodecane, Benzene, Hexadecenoic acid methyl, Methyl stearate, cyclohexane, 1,3,5-triphenyl and 2,3-diphenylcyclopropyl methyl phenyl.

Keywords: Antioxidant potential, bioactive metabolites, endophytic fungi, Rosmarinus officinalis L., Aspergillus austwickii.