Research and development on secondary metabolites of Metarhizium anisopliae under non-thermal plasma stimulation

The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato is a pathogenic microorganism that infects insects and has been developed as an essential biopesticide. Therefore, the investigation on the secondary metabolites of M. anisopliae and effects to human health became an important issue. The technology in non-thermal plasma was applied on the study of its components and related functions [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. The effects of plasma stimulation and plasma-activated water (PAW) treatment on the changes of metabolite compositions during solid-state fermentation were explored in this study. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for compound identification and quantitative analysis. After stimulations using the methods in different conditions, the results in changes are insignificant. The fungal mycelial and culture filtrate layers of M. anisopliae yielded by liquid fermentation were extracted, fractionated, separated, and purified, then eight pure compounds were isolated. The isolated compounds were structurally characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), etc. Eight compounds were identified as 5-hydroxymethyl-furan-2-carboxylic acid ( 1 ), hydroxybenzoic acid ( 2 ), 4-methoxyphenylacetic acid ( 3 ), ergosterol ( 4 ), helvolic acid ( 5 ), destruxin A ( 6 ), destruxin B ( 7 ), and destruxin E chlorohydrin ( 8 ). Among them, compounds 3 and 4 were reported to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity and potentially affect platelet aggregation in previous studies. The progrss of pharmacological test is on going. Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany