ABSTRACT
In a complex scenario claiming for novel sources of antimicrobials and antioxidants, comparing to planta or animals, fungi properties have been barely studied. However, the potential of cultivated macrofungi to provide a stable supply of bioactive compounds in increasingly attractive. Two different morphological stages of macrofungi can be cultivated under controlled parameters. The mycelium can be produced in liquid cultures to eventually obtain extracellular secondary metabolites or isolate compounds trapped in the biological matrix of the fungal tissues. Besides, the reproductive stages in the form of fruit bodies can be harvested from selective substrates through a process of solid fermentation and fructification. Depending on the morphology and the characteristics of the cultivated macrofungi many different techniques can be employed for the extraction of bioactive compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The most effective techniques must be time and cost effective to generate stable yield with the minimum negative impact on the molecules of interest. The identification of the most effective compounds requires fractionation of the extracts and the characterisation of their antimicrobial (by mean of confronting the efficiency to cope with bacterial, fungal or viral parasites in vitro and in vivo) and tracking the antioxidant activity (quantification of the antioxidant activity by spectroscopic techniques and confronting to cell models). Fractions with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties obtained from macrofungi exhibit great potential to become novel drugs for the pharma industry, alternative biocontrol agents for high-valued crops or as a source of additives for the food industry. The current chapter reviews techniques for the extraction and characterisation of extracted fractions with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities that can be obtained from macrofungi.
