New Antioxidative Indophenol-reducing Phenol Compounds Isolated from the Mortierella sp. Fungus

Abstract

Four indophenol-reducing compounds, USF-406A, B, C, and D, were isolated from a culture filtrate of the fungus, Mortierella sp. USF-406 strain by chemical screening. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic evidence and chemical degradation. Two were new phenol compounds, N-(4,6-dihydroxy-2,3,5-trimethylbenzoyl)-glycine and its methyl ester, and the others were their known derivatives. Biosynthetic studies, using ¹³C-Iabelled compounds and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, showed they were derived from the same tetraketide precursor. Their antioxidative activities were measured, and they acted as electron donors and also as radical scavengers. The production of these phenol compounds with antioxidative activity might have be related to the production of unsaturated fatty acids by the same fungus.

Key words:

• indophenol-reducing compound
• antioxidant
• radical scavenging activity
• Mortierella sp.