College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China.
Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2022 Sep 23;38(12):228. doi: 10.1007/s11274-022-03415-0.
Melanin is a secondary metabolite composed of complex heterogeneous polymers. Fungal melanin is considered to be a sustainable and biodegradable natural pigment and has a variety of functional properties and biological activities. On one hand, due to its own specific properties it can play the role of antioxidant, anti-radiation, adsorption, and photoprotection. On the other hand, it has good biological activities such as hepatoprotective effect, hypolipidemic effect and anti-cancer. Therefore, it is widely used in various fields of daily life, including dyeing, food, biomedical and commercial industry. It is conducive to environmental protection and human health. However, the insolubility of fungal melanin in water, acids and organic solvents has been an obstacle to its commercial applications. Thus, the chemical modification methods of fungal melanin are summarized to increase its solubility and expand the application fields. Although fungal melanin has been used in many industries, as the structure and function of fungal melanin and modified melanin are further studied, more functional properties and bioactivities are expected to be discovered for a wide range of applications in the future.
黑色素是一种由复杂的异质聚合物组成的次级代谢产物。真菌黑色素被认为是一种可持续和可生物降解的天然色素，具有多种功能特性和生物活性。一方面，由于其自身的特性，它可以起到抗氧化、抗辐射、吸附和光保护的作用。另一方面，它具有良好的生物活性，如护肝作用、降血脂作用和抗癌作用。因此，它被广泛应用于日常生活的各个领域，包括染色、食品、生物医学和商业工业。这有利于环境保护和人类健康。然而，真菌黑色素不溶于水、酸和有机溶剂，这一直是其商业应用的障碍。因此，总结了真菌黑色素的化学修饰方法，以提高其溶解度，扩大其应用领域。尽管真菌黑色素已被应用于许多行业，但随着对真菌黑色素和修饰黑色素的结构和功能的进一步研究，预计未来将有更多的功能特性和生物活性被发现，从而在更广泛的领域得到应用。
