Evaluation and optimization of antioxidant potentiality of Chaetomium madrasense AUMC 9376

Antioxidants have recently become the topic of interest as radical scavengers, which inhibit lipid peroxidation and other free radical mediated processes. Chaetomium madrasense AUMC 9376 was isolated from Cairo soil and evaluated for antioxidant activity by various assays, such as DPPH, reducing power, scavenging activity by ferrous ion, nitric oxide (NO) and total phenolic content. Different physical and chemical conditions of the production medium were optimized for enhancement of antioxidant activity. The results revealed that incubation for 15 days at 25 °C and pH 6 was the most favorable for antioxidant activity. Moreover, both glucose and sodium nitrate were the proper carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively for the highest antioxidant activity. The extraction of the broth culture filtrate with different solvents revealed that ethyl acetate extract possesses the highest antioxidant activity. The obtained results suggest that the experimental fungus has the potentiality as a source of strong natural and safe antioxidants safe for application in the food and cosmetics industries.