Naphthoquinones Isolated from Fusarium solani, an Endophytic Fungi of Cola nitida, with Potentials for Pharmaceutical and Industrial Applications

Abstract

Endophytic fungi isolated from Nigeria Rainforest medicinal plants have been shown to possess potentials as sources of novel therapeutic agents. In our effort to further explore the rainforest medicinal plants in Nigeria for endophytic fungi populations, we investigated Cola nitida for the isolation of novel fungal endophytes that can synthesize unique compounds of pharmaceutical and industrial importance. The endophytic fungus was isolated from the leaves of Cola nitida using standard protocols. The identification was carried out by DNA amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The pure fungus was grown using solid fermentation on a rice medium and the metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate. The crude extract was subjected to several chromatographic techniques to isolate compounds 1-4. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using a combination of 1-and 2-D NMR and Mass Spectrometry. The fungus was identified as Fusarium solani and the isolated compounds were elucidated as Javanicin (1), Solaniol (2), 3-O-methyl fusarubin (3) and anhydrojavanicin (4). This study further contributes to the plethora of endophytic fungi isolated from the leaves of Cola nitida. The isolated naphthoquinones have potential for development into novel therapeutic agents as well as applications as pigments in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and textile industries.