Fungi as a Gold Mine of Antioxidants

Fungi have emerged as a significant reservoir of potent antioxidant compounds among numerous natural alternative sources of bioactive metabolites. Such scarcely studied microorganisms are prolific producers of novel metabolites and are capable of producing compounds, which are isolated exclusively from Plantae. A broad variety of compounds were known as natural antioxidants, including nucleobases, polyketides, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins, xanthones, semiquinones, peptides, and phenolic acids. Some of these free radical scavengers have shown wide use as potential food preservatives, nutraceuticals, antibacterial, anticancer, and antifungal agents in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This chapter aims to spot light fungal antioxidant jewelry and discuss it through different biological assays.