Loureiro Luís, Morais João, Silva Raquel, Martins Joana T, Geada Pedro, Vasconcelos Vítor, Vicente António A
CEB-Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4750 Braga, Portugal.
CIIMAR/CIMAR-Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research and Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Foods. 2024 Jun 4;13(11):1759. doi: 10.3390/foods13111759.
Lichens are organisms constituted by a symbiotic relationship between a fungus (mycobiont) and a photoautotrophic partner (photobiont). Lichens produce several bioactive compounds; however, the biotechnological exploitation of this organism is hampered by its slow growth. To start studying the possibility of exploiting lichens as alternative sources of bioactive compounds, eighteen lichens were collected in the north of Portugal in order to isolate and study the bioactivity of their photobionts. It was possible to isolate and cultivate only eight photobionts. Three of them, LFR1, LFA2 and LCF3, belong to the genus, the other two (LFA1 and LCF1) belong to the genus and for the remaining three photobionts, LFS1, LCA1 and LCR1, it was impossible to isolate their microalgae. These only grow in consortium with bacteria and/or cyanobacteria. All extracts showed antioxidant activity, mainly at a concentration of 10 mg.mL. LFS1, a consortium extract, showed the highest antioxidant power, as well as the highest concentration of phenolic compounds (5.16 ± 0.53 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE).g). The extracts under study did not show significant antibacterial activity against , or . The sp. and LFA1 extracts showed the highest hyaluronidase inhibition. The LFR1 extract at a concentration of 5 mg.mL showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity (79.77 ± 7.66%). The extracts of sp. and LFA1 also showed greater antidiabetic activity, demonstrating the high inhibitory power of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. LFR1 at a concentration of 5 mg.mL, due to its selective cytotoxicity inhibiting the growth of cancer cells (Caco-2 cells), is a promising anticancer agent.
地衣是由一种真菌（菌共生体）和一个光合自养伙伴（光共生体）之间的共生关系构成的生物体。地衣能产生多种生物活性化合物；然而，这种生物体的生物技术开发因其生长缓慢而受到阻碍。为了开始研究将地衣用作生物活性化合物替代来源的可能性，在葡萄牙北部采集了18种地衣，以便分离并研究其光共生体的生物活性。仅分离并培养出了8种光共生体。其中三种，LFR1、LFA2和LCF3，属于 属，另外两种（LFA1和LCF1）属于 属，而对于其余三种光共生体LFS1、LCA1和LCR1，无法分离出它们的微藻。这些微藻仅与细菌和/或蓝细菌共生生长。所有提取物均表现出抗氧化活性，主要在浓度为10 mg.mL时。LFS1，一种共生体提取物，表现出最高的抗氧化能力，以及最高浓度的酚类化合物（5.16±0.53 mg没食子酸当量（GAE）.g）。所研究的提取物对 、 或 没有显示出显著的抗菌活性。 属菌株和LFA1提取物表现出最高的透明质酸酶抑制作用。浓度为5 mg.mL的LFR1提取物表现出最高的抗炎活性（79.77±7.66%）。 属菌株和LFA1的提取物也表现出更大的抗糖尿病活性，证明了对α-淀粉酶和α-葡萄糖苷酶的高抑制能力。浓度为5 mg.mL的LFR1由于其选择性细胞毒性抑制癌细胞（Caco-2细胞）的生长，是一种有前景的抗癌剂。
