Isolation and Biological Evaluation of Two Bioactive Metabolites from Aspergillus gorakhpurensis

Fungi are known to produce a vast array of secondary metabolites that are gaining importance for their biotechnological applications. Screening ofAspergillus gorakhpurensis for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites results in the production of 4-(N-methyl-N-phenyl amino) butan-2-one and itaconic acid. The structure of the known compounds was established by 1H-, 13C-NMR and Mass spectral data. Biological evaluation of the two compounds against test microorganisms showed strong inhibitory activity of 4-(N-methyl-N-phenyl amino) butan-2-one towards bacteria and fungi. Only 4-( N -methyl-N- phenyl amino)-butan-2-one showed a marked significant activity (LD 50 = 330.69 m g/mL ) in Spodoptera litura larvicidal bioassay.