ENZYME AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF ISOLATED ENDOPHTIC FUNGI FROM SOUTHEAST PLANTS OF ALGERIA

Abstract

Fungi that dwell internally in hosts that appear to be healthy and asymptomatic are known as endophytic fungi. For decades, fungi have demonstrated their value as sources of natural compounds for both industrial and biomedical development. This study aimedto identify some endophytic fungi, which were associated with the stems, leaves and roots of southeastAlgerianplants. Eleven endophytic fungi were evaluated for their ability of producing extracellular enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, laccase, lipase, protease, ligninase and protease on solid media, five endophytics were selected to determine the phytochemical composition such as alkaloids, flavonoids , phenols, tannins and saponins of their extracts. Cellulase activity was detected in 27.27% of the fungus that were tested for enzyme activity, 27.27% for amylase and 18.18% showed for ligninase. The phytochemical analysis revealed alkaloid as the only composition present in all selected endophytic’s extracts. This study can be regarded as a preliminary work, endophytic fungi of high activity are proposed as possible resources for industrial applications.