Antioxidant Activity and Infrared Spectroscopy Analysis of Alcoholic Extracts Obtained from Paecilomyces hepiali (Ascomycetes).

This research studies the influence of substrate on the antioxidant activity of alcohol extracts of Paecilomyces hepiali. We used corn, rice, millet, and peas as substrates. Antioxidant activity was measured with the DPPH radical scavenging method. Concentrations of extracts (6.25, 3.12, 1.56, 0.78, and 0.39 mg/mL) were applied in all evaluations. Overall antioxidant activity was expressed as the concentration of substrate that decreased DPPH radical levels by 50% (IC50DPPH) for 7 methanol and 7 ethanol extracts. A comparison of IC50DPPH allowed us to conclude that the methanol extracts are more active in scavenging stable DPPH radicals than are the ethanol extracts. The substrate with antioxidant properties most suitable for cultivation of P. hepiali was rice supplemented with non-defatted soy flour. The extract most effective in scavenging stable radicals was the methanol extract of sample 4 (IC50DPPH = 2.33 mg/mL) cultivated on rice with nondefatted soy flour. The methanol extract of sample 7 cultivated on peas was less effective (IC50DPPH = 11.50 mg/mL). By crystallizing these extracts, we managed to obtain sufficient quantities of 6 samples in a solid state, for which infrared spectra were measured and confirmed the presence of amino acids in the extracts.

NMR and IR analysis of natural substances isolated from Cordyceps medicinal mushrooms.

There exist about 750 species of Cordyceps at present. A high price of natural Cordyceps and its lack in nature caused that the attention has been focused to its cultivation in laboratory conditions. The demand for this “fungus-parasite” is still quite high nowadays, as shown by the amount of commercial nutritional supplements. Phytochemical diversity has ensured that Cordyceps is used as an immunomodulatory and an antioxidant; it has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anti-HIV effects. In the present study we focused on NMR and IR analyses of natural substances isolated from two species of Cordyceps: Cordyceps sinensis MFTCCB025/0216, MFTCCB026/0216 and Paecilomyces hepiali MFTCCB023/0216. Two types of rice substrates (Oryza sativa Indica and Oryza sativa Japonica) were used for cultivation. A total of five methanol extracts obtained by a reflux method of the ground mushroom were analysed. To determine the quality and quantity of the major chemical compounds, 1D and 2D NMR analysis has been used with 1H, 13C, COSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC and DEPT spectra. IR spectroscopy was chosen as a complementary analysis to determine functional groups. Linoleic acid, oleic acid and mannitol were identified as major compounds of the methanol extracts. Tyrosine, alanine, urea and the others biologically interesting substances were found as minor components.

Free-Radical Scavenging Activities of Cultured Mycelia of Paecilomyces hepiali (Ascomycetes) Extracts and Structural Characterization of Bioactive Components by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Current research is focused on testing the cultivation of Paecilomyces hepiali mycelia on various plant substrates and producing fungus or mycelial biomass with qualitatively interesting substances. P. hepiali mycelia was cultivated using solid-state fermentation of different substrates. Mycelial biomass was then analyzed, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging method for different ethanolic extracts based on a millet substrate (extract 1) or a chickpea substrate (extract 2). Extract 1 corresponds to a half-maximal DPPH radical inhibitory concentration of 1.73 mg/mL; the inhibitory concentration of ethanol extract 2 was almost 4.5 times higher at 7.92 mg/mL. Extracts 1 and 2 were separated into fractions by column chromatography and the chemical structures were determined for the substances that formed the most effective fraction of sample 1. The chemical structures of all compounds in the most active fraction of sample 1 were analyzed by 1H, 13C, distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer, correlation spectroscopy, heteronuclear single-quantum correlation spectroscopy, and heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation spectra.