The use of cunninghamella elegans for biotransformation of lupeol

Cunnighamella elegans is a well-known fungus that has been used for biotransformation of organic compounds including coumarins, flavonoids, terpenes and others. Triterpenes are a versatile group of biologically active ingredients present in several plant extracts. Terpenoids are classified as monoterpenoids (CIO), sesquiterpenoids (C 15), diterpenoids (C20), triterpenoids (C30), and others. Lupeol is a pentacyclic triterpene and mainly found in medicinal plants. Lupeol is reported to possess beneficial effects as a therapeutic and preventive agent for a range of disorders. Many studies have confirmed that lupeol possesses strong activities such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antiarthritic, antimutagenic, and antimalarial, both in vitro and in vivo, and at its effective therapeutic doses exhibit no toxicity to normal cells and tissues. The aim of current study was to carry out fermentation of lupeol with C. elegans on large scale in order to identify transformed products of lupeol using TLC and HPLC.