Metabolites with antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities produced by the endophytic fungi Aspergillus niger from Pachysandra terminalis.

One new compound and 13 known compounds were isolated from Aspergillus niger, a plant endophytic fungus of Pachysandra terminalis collected from Qinling Mountains, Xi'an, China. The structure of new compound 1 was classically determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compounds 5, 6, 8, and 14 were first reported from Aspergillus, while compound 2 was isolated from A. niger for the first time. All isolated compounds were further evaluated for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited significant antioxidant activities with IC50 values of 31.64 μm and 24.32 μm, respectively, similar to the positive control ascorbic acid. Additionally, compound 1 displayed remarkable inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with an IC50 value of 96.25 μm, which was 3.4-fold more potent than that of the positive control acarbose. Compound 1 has great potential for development as a new lead compound owing to its simple structure and remarkable biological activity.