Production of metabolites with antioxidant activity by Botryosphaeria dothidea in submerged fermentation

Antioxidants are able of inhibiting free radicals and play an important role in human diet, protection of foods, anti-aging cosmetics, among others. Fungi have been highlighted in production of metabolites with biological activity, such as antioxidant. The main objective of this study was to select a fungus from resources of Brazilians Pampa and Atlantic Forest biomes with hability for production of antioxidants by submerged fermentation. The scavenging activity of the compounds was determined against radical 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide and hydroxyl. Botryosphaeria dothidea exhibited higher potential for the production of antioxidants, and its supernatant showed percentage inhibition values of 94.47, 94.87 and 89.78% against DPPH, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and IC₅₀ of 0.206 mg/mL. The identification of the volatile compounds present in the broth verified the presence of the hexahydropyrrolizin-3-one; 1.2-benzenedicarboxylic acid bis(2-methylpropyl) ester and 3.6-bis(2-methylpropyl)-2.5-piperazinedione. According to this study, Botryosphaeria dothidea presents great potential to produce compounds with antioxidant activity.