Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that can produce a wide range of secondary
metabolites with a significant impact on society. Some metabolites are exploited
for their activity as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and anti-microbial
agents, and in the production of cancer vaccines, among other pharmaceutical
applications. Since the discovery of penicillin, the pharmaceutical industry has
been greatly interested in fungi as sources of natural bioactive compounds, and
fungi metabolites have made an indispensable contribution to improving human and
animal health throughout the last decades. Starting with the development of antibiotics,
the pharmaceutical industry has increasingly turned to these compounds for a
variety of applications. The increase in the number of patents registered worldwide is
a strong indicator that the market realizes the great potential of fungi secondary
metabolites. In general, the pharmaceutical industry trend is centered on adopting
different strategies to discover new drugs, and fungi secondary metabolites are viewed as having significant potential. This chapter explores the current pharmaceutical
applications of secondary metabolites found in fungi. Initially, the most
recent mushroom studies and their commercial pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical
applications are explored. An overview of the different classes of fungi secondary
metabolites with biologically relevant activities is then presented. Recently marine
fungi were found to be a rich source of secondary metabolites. Due to the recent
relevancy of marine fungi, an overview of marine fungi secondary metabolites with
relevant pharmaceutical-related activities is also presented. Finally, the potential of
fungi metabolites as a source of natural pigments and the methodologies used to
characterize and explore fungi secondary metabolites are also analyzed.
The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT,
Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020).
L. Barros and R. Calhelha thank the national funding by FCT through the institutional scientific
employment program-contract for their contract, while M. Carocho thank FCT through the individual
scientific employment program-contracts (CEECIND/00831/2018).
