Antioxidant capacity of fungi associated with corals and sponges of the reef system of Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Background: Marine fungi are considered as a promising source of pharmacologically important extracts and compounds owing to the new chemical structures that they can synthesize due to the environmental conditions of their habitat. The aim of this work is to evaluate the free radical scavenging capacity of methanolic extracts from marine fungi and their relationship to their total phenolic content. For this, the radical tests ABTS, DPPH, and Galvinoxyl were used, comparing these results with the antioxidant Trolox as reference. The total phenol content was quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. All data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc tests (p < 0.001).

Results: The results indicate that Fusarium oxysporum broth extract (Apl) showed a greater capacity for free radical scavenging when compared with the Trolox standard (128% ABTS) as well as the biomass extract of Cladosporium cladosporioides (A.c) with values of (107 % ABTS and 102% Galvinoxyl). In addition, the variation found in the total phenolic content for each bioactive extract suggests that their antioxidant activity is not exclusively related to phenolic compounds and hence might be attributed to other types of metabolites.

Conclusions: This work is the first to report the antioxidant capacity of marine fungi isolated from sponges and corals in Mexico. These results, we consider, support the selection, conservation, and use of marine fungi as an alternative source of phenolic and non-phenolic compounds that could be used in pathologies such as oxidative stress and cancer, among others.