Extracellular Enzymatic Activity of Endophytic Fungal Strains Isolated from Medicinal Plants

Endophytic fungi exhibit a complex web of interactions with host plants and have been extensively studied over the last several years as prolific sources of new bioactive natural products. Fungal enzymes are one of them which are used in food, beverages, confectionaries, textiles and leather industries to simplify the processing of raw materials. They are often more stable than enzymes derived from other sources. Enzymes of the endophytes are degraders of the polysaccharides available in the host plants. The use of simpler solid media permits the rapid screening of large populations of fungi for the presence or absence of specific enzymes. Fifty fungal strains, isolated from medicinal plants (Alpinia calcarata, Bixa orellana, Calophyllum inophyllum and Catharanthus roseus) were screened for extracellular enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, laccase, lipase, pectinase and protease on solid media. Sixty four percent of fungi screened for enzymes showed positive for lipase, 62% for amylase and pectinase, 50% showed for lipase, 32% showed for cellulase, 30% for laccase and only 28% showed positive for protease. The array of enzymes produced differs between fungi and often depends on the host and their ecological factors