Fungal by-products: New Potentials in Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Industries

Abstract

Fungi are increasingly recognized as prolific producers of bioactive secondary metabolites with considerable pharmaceutical and biotechnological potential. This review offers an overview of the recent advances in fungal by-products from 2021 to 2026, including their diversity, biosynthetic regulation, and new applications. Different ecological sources like marine fungi, endophytic fungi, coral-associated fungi, mangrove fungi and symbiotic fungi, have been sources of metabolites with antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, neuroprotective and enzyme-inhibitory activities. Besides their therapeutic potential, fungal metabolites have shown promising applications in agriculture, nanomedicine, industrial biotechnology, metabolomics and environmental management. The research work presents an overview of current obstacles which affect metabolite production and purification and commercial distribution. The research identifies developing potential from genomic studies together with synthetic biology and artificial intelligence and metabolomics systems. The research shows that fungal by-products serve as an essential resource for discovering sustainable scientific and industrial solutions.

Keywords: Fungal by-products; Secondary metabolites; Endophytic fungi; Bioactive compounds; Pharmaceutical biotechnology; Industrial biotechnology.