Chemo-profiling of Secondary Metabolites from Endophytic Fungi of Jatropha tanjorensis

Omotoso Abayomi E1* and Igbinaduwa Patrick2

Jatropha tanjorensis belongs to family Euphorbiaceae and like other medicinal herbs have been used in ethnomedicine for treatment of various ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, inflammation and anemia. This is believed to be due to the presence of bioactive compounds they contain. This study was carried out to isolate the endophytic fungi resident in the midribs and leaf blades of J. tanjorensis and consequently to identify the bioactive compounds produced by the fermentation of these fungi using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry analysis. Leaves of J. tanjorensis were subculture into Sabouraud agar from which single colony forming units were isolated and identified microscopically and morphologically. The isolated fungal strains were subsequently fermented in rice media. The secondary metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate and subsequently concentrated for GC-MS analysis.
Two microorganisms were isolated: Cryptococcus neoformans and Microsporum canis. Bioactive compounds identified were mainly fatty acids such as n-Hexadecanoic acid and Octadecanoic acid. Many of the compounds identified possess an antioxidant, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and pesticides, anti-microbial and anti-androgenic property which justifies the folklore use of the leaves in traditional system to cure various ailments. The results suggest that the medicinal properties of J. tanjorensis can be attributed to endophytes (endophytic fungi) present in the leaves.