Abstract
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025.Penicillium is acclaimed for its ability to produce numerous natural substances that are valuable for drug discovery. Drugs produced by microbial processes are pivotal in the pharmaceutical industry. In the past 20 years, fungi have received considerable interest because of their prolific production of a broad array of bioactive secondary metabolites exhibiting assorted biological properties. Therefore, in this study, the indigenous fungus Penicillium herquei (FCBP-PTF 1206) was used for metabolic and pharmacological profiling. The pharmacological capabilities of ethyl acetate and n-hexane fractions were assessed through both (in vivo and in vitro) assessments, showing promising antibacterial results against human pathogen S. aureus, B. subtilis with their zone of inhibition values of (22 ± 0.8 mm) and (18 ± 1.5 mm) respectively, similarly n- hexane showed S. aureus (zone of inhibition values of 18 ± 0.8 mm) B. subtilis (zone of inhibition values of 15 ± 0.18 mm) respectively. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) activity of the EtOAc and n-hexane fractions was also evaluated, and both fractions showed significant antioxidant potential at concentrations of 250 µg/mL (71.5 ± 0.68%) and (65.4 ± 0.69%, respectively). It is of particular note that throughout the entire 72-h period of observation, no indications of acute toxicity were observed. Similarly, EtOAc extract of P. herquei at doses of 50 and 150 mg/kg showed a significant decrease in the inflammation effect (P < 0.01, P < 0.001) against carrageenan administered mice, during the study period of 1–5 h. The LCMS-QTOF investigation revealed diverse metabolites such as xanthine, kurilensoside F, nigakilactone A, 13-Docosenamide, Integerressine, Norselic acid E, and chaetoglobosin. Additionally, among tentatively identified metabolites, chaetoglobosin displayed the highest biding score of − 10.2 and − 10.1 kj/mol against the pro-inflammatory enzyme COX-2 (PDB ID: 5IKR) and Tyrosyl-Trna Synthetase enzyme (PDB ID: 1TYD) of bacteria, respectively. These findings uncover the bioactive potential of P. herquei as a future candidate for drug discovery programs.
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