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Objective: There is a growing demand for colourants of natural origin in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and textile sectors. Previously, our group has screened a fungal species from forest soil, identified as Penicillium europium. The isolated fungus transformed the longifolene into various metabolites, of which 12 were isolated in pure form, with potential to be utilized in the perfumery industry. This study aimed to isolate and identify novel fungal pigments from Penicillium europium. Methods: The current study showcases the extraction and identification of fungal pigment from Penicillium europium using different spectral studies. The strain was isolated from forest soil, Western Ghats, India, and was found to be capable of using longifolene as the sole carbon source. The yellowish pink coloured pigment-producing fungal strain was identified as Penicillium europium. Further, the pinkish pigment was extracted, purified, and using spectral studies like UV, IR, NMR and Mass, the structure of the pure pigment was identified. Results: The pure pigment structure was analyzed and tentatively confirmed as 2-(1,5, dimethyl hexyl)-3,5-dimethyl-6-hydro-1,4-benzoquinone having the molecular formula C16H24O3. Toxicity study using LD50 on Albino rats revealed that the pigment had no toxic effect on rats. Conclusion: Penicillium europium synthesized pigments could contribute to biotechnology and add value to the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries. They can be used for various industrial applications, for example, as dyes for textile and non-textile substrates such as paper, leather, coatings and paints, in cosmetics, and food additives. Negative cytotoxicity result inferred that the pigment could be a potential replacement for hazardous synthetic dyes.

A fungal species was screened from a forest soil by enrichment agar plating method with longifolene as only carbon source. It was identified as Penicillium europium. The isolated fungus transformed the longifolene into various metabolites, of which 12 were isolated in pure form. The characterisation of these transformed compounds was carried out by physicochemical methods involving spectral studies. Attempts were made to find out the pathways of the transformation of longifolene with the help of oxygen uptakes studies, tetranitromethane (TNM) tests and structures of acid and neutral metabolites. The biological transformation of longifolene was found to proceed simultaneously by 4 different schemes of pathways. As the longifolene metabolites are playing a big role in perfumery, P. europium can be utilised in the production of necessary raw materials for perfumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing demand for colourants of natural origin in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and textile sectors. Previously, our group has screened a fungal species from forest soil, identified as Penicillium europium. The isolated fungus transformed the longifolene into various metabolites, of which 12 were isolated in pure form, with potential to be utilized in the perfumery industry. This study aimed to isolate and identify novel fungal pigments from Penicillium europium. The current study showcases the extraction and identification of fungal pigment from Penicillium europium using different spectral studies. The strain was isolated from forest soil, Western Ghats, India, and was found to be capable of using longifolene as the sole carbon source. The yellowish pink coloured pigment-producing fungal strain was identified as Penicillium europium. Further, the pinkish pigment was extracted, purified, and using spectral studies like UV, IR, NMR and Mass, the structure of the pure pigment was identified. The pure pigment structure was analyzed and tentatively confirmed as 2-(1,5, dimethyl hexyl)-3,5-dimethyl-6-hydro-1,4-benzoquinone having the molecular formula C 16 H 24 O 3. Toxicity study using LD 50 on Albino rats revealed that the pigment had no toxic effect on rats. Penicillium europium synthesized pigments could contribute to biotechnology and add value to the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries. They can be used for various industrial applications, for example, as dyes for textile and non-textile substrates such as paper, leather, coatings and paints, in cosmetics, and food additives. Negative cytotoxicity result inferred that the pigment could be a potential replacement for hazardous synthetic dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]