Pharmacological and phytochemical potentials of endophytic fungi from Nigerian medicinal plants: A review
1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University, Enugu State Nigeria.
2 Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
3 Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Nigeria.
4 Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Univesity of Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria.
5 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Madonna University Elele, Rivers State Nigeria.
6 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Delta State University Abraka, Delta State Nigeria.
Review Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2023, 23(02), 020–028.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2023.23.2.0167
Publication history:
Received on 14 March 2023; revised on 28 April 2023; accepted on 01 May 2023
Abstract:
Investigation of microorganisms for natural product is the new paradigm in drug discovery research. Microorganisms are obtained from different sources for this purpose, and plants are one of these sources. Endophytes usually present in the plant’s cell walls have been confirmed to synthesize secondary metabolites similar or sometimes different from those of their host plants. This movement from plants to their endophytes for potential drug molecules led some researchers in Nigeria to investigate the endophytes (especially fungal endophytes) of some Nigerian medicinal plants for bioactive secondary. The current study tries to summarize the research so far conducted on fungal endophytes of Nigerian medicinal plants, and correlate the endophytes’ secondary metabolites and their pharmacological activities with those of the host plants. To achieve this, research articles written in English were sourced from Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus from the time scientific study on fungal endophytes started in Nigeria till date. Out of over 7000 plant species in the Nigerian biodiversity, only about only a few have had their endophytes scientifically explored for pharmacological activities and some of them generated novel bioactive compounds.
Keywords:
Endophytic fungi; Secondary metabolites; Medicinal plants; Antimicrobial
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