Entrepreneurship with Microorganisms

Abstract

Fungi are considered as one of the most important group of organisms due to their immense application in biotechnology and industry. In addition to this, fungi can also be grown at large scale and which remain viable. Most of the economically valuable compounds isolated from fungi are the secondary metabolites, as primary metabolites are rapidly exploited since they are directly involved for their growth to occur, which includes nucleic acid, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. On the other hand, secondary metabolites are formed during the stationary phase, once rapid initial growth phase has declined. The incredible role played by fungi starts from textile industry to food and beverages. In between these two extremes, they can be utilized in the production of preservatives, fungal enzymes, cosmetics, biofertilizers, medicines, etc. Some of the extraction methods (isolation and purification) of pharmacologically valuable compounds from fungi are also discussed. Apart from its principal role, that is, being utilized as antibiotics, we will focus on various extremes that fungi are highly beneficial as pharmaceuticals like anticancer agents, antidiabetic agents, antiviral agents, immunosuppressive agents, and many more. Most of the compounds derived from fungi like penicillin, cephalosporin, griseofulvin, cyclosporine, etc. which are reported to have medicinal properties are described with their sources, structures, effectiveness against particular diseases and the mechanism by which they act. Only very few of the total estimated fungal biodiversity has been studied for bioactive compounds and from these many natural products and the natural product derived drugs have been discovered, still further research in this area is required to combat new challenges for multidrug-resistant pathogens. This chapter specifically deals with the life-saving potentiality, that is, fungi as pharmaceuticals. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.