Antioxidants and pigments of Aspergillus niger

Abstract

Extracts of six fungi, four yeasts, and two species of Streptomyces were tested for antioxidant activity when added to lard. Extracts of Aspergillus niger, the microorganism that showed the strongest antioxidant activity, were subjected to adsorption and gel permeation chromatography. Two fractions that protected lard against oxidation were obtained by chromatography of A . niger extract on Sephadex LH-20 and Bio-Beads S-X2. One of these fractions contained a gummy brown pigment BR, the other a bright yellow crystalline pigment Y . Pigment BR showed strong carbonyl group and methyl-methylene group absorption in the infrared. Apparently, on the basis of spectral data, pigment Y has a linear naphthopyrone structure. Pigment BR was obtained consistently from A . niger mycelium, while pigment Y was formed sporadically. Results indicated that more than one substance in A . niger mycelium have antioxidant properties and that brown and yellow pigments apparently are associated with antioxidant activity. Synergistic effects may be important in the strong antioxidant activity of A . niger extracts.

Natural Antioxidants

“…(Fugimoto and Kaneda, 1976) Extracts of Aspergillus niger were demonstrated to have antioxidant activity in lard as also did an extract of Pseudomonas ovalis. (Zaika and Smith, 1975) DUGAN Meisinger, et al (1959), established that an antioxidant isolated from yeast was 2-(6-hydroxy-2-methoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxyphenyl) benzofuran.…”

Fungal naphtho-γ-pyrones—secondary metabolites of industrial interest

“…These natural compounds present a broad range of biological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, or anti-tumor Zhang et al 2007; Barrow and McCulloch 2009;Nielsen et al 2009;Lu et al 2014). As an example of application of NGPs in industry, it was demonstrated that an Aspergillus niger extract containing NGPs protected lard from being oxidized (Zaika and Smith 1975). Besides, a patent was recently filed for the preparation of a herbal extract of Cassia tora leaves for treating anxiety disorders (WO 2010109318 A1).…”

Metabolites of Eurotium Species, Their Antioxidative Properties and Synergism with Tocopherol

“…Meisinger et al (1959) isolated 2-(6-hydroxy-2-methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)benzofuran as an antioxidant from years. Zaika and Smith (1975) demonstrated that extracts of Aspergillus niger had antioxidative activities and synergistic effects in lard. Recently, Nakakita et al (1984) isolated antioxidative phenolic compounds like methylenebis(tert-butyl-cresol) from the culture filtrate of Penicillium janthinellum.…”