Extraction and Purification of Lovastatin from the Edible Mushroom Laetiporus sulphureus and its Antioxidant Activity

Abstract

LOVASTATIN is a cholesterol-lowering drug produced by the secondary metabolism of different fungi. In the current study, lovastatin was extracted from the basidiomycetes fungus Laetiporus sulphureus by submerged fermentation using an organic solvent ethyl acetate. Initial detection of lovastatin production in the crude extract was carried out using agar well diffusion method and was found to have inhibitory activity against yeast Candida albicans. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used to detected lovastatin, and a distinct spot with an RF value of 0.55 appeared similar to standard Lovastatin. A single peak was also featured with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a retention time of 14.61 minutes to see the purity of Lovastatin. The result of the detection of active groups in lovastatin purified by the infrared spectrum indicated the presence of amide and carboxyl groups. The purified lovastatin showed antioxidant efficacy with the DPPH test, with the inhibitory effect reaching 75% at a concentration of 100µg/mL compared with the inhibitory effect of standard antioxidant, ascorbic acid, which reached 85%.