ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND INHIBITION OF ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE OF INSECT-ASSOCIATED FUNGI FROM THE CLOUD FOREST OF CENTRAL VERACRUZ, MEXICO

<p><strong>Background. </strong>The central zone of Veracruz state in Mexico, includes areas of cloud forest in which some microbial interactions such as insect-associated fungi can be found, like <em>Isaria</em>, <em>Paraisaria</em>, <em>Ophiocordyceps</em>, <em>Paecilomyces </em>and <em>Cordyceps </em>genera. <strong>Objective</strong>. To isolate entomopathogenic fungi from the cloud forest of Veracruz and determine their antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase inhibitor potential. <strong>Methodology</strong>. Mycelium covered pupae and insects and those that present growth of fruiting bodies were collected. From these, six entomopathogenic fungi were purified and identified by morphology and sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA and maximum likelihood analysis and Bayesian inference. These strains were propagated by batch cultures using liquid fermentation. The culture broth and biomass were extracted to evaluate the antioxidant capacity, acetylcholinesterase inhibition and quantify flavonoids and total phenols. <strong>Results</strong>. A total of six different strains of insect-associated fungi were identified, including the genera <em>Cordyceps</em>, <em>Beauveria</em> and <em>Clonosthachys</em>. The strain CIMA_225, identified as <em>Cordyceps takaomontana</em>, represent the first report of these fungi associated with a Lepidoptera pupa in the ecological reserve La Martinica, Banderilla, Veracruz, Mexico. The <em>C. takaomontana </em>culture broth extract presented higher antioxidant capacity than the control antioxidant Trolox, against ABTS and DPPH radicals, this antioxidant capacity was related to the content of flavonoids and total phenols on the extract. Biomass extracts from samples CIMA_256 to CIMA 258, identified as <em>Beauveria</em> <em>bassiana</em> and culture broth extracts from CIMA_259 (<em>Clonosthachys rosea</em>) and CIMA_260 (<em>C. rogersoniana</em>) presented higher percentages of inhibition of acetylcholinesterase when compared to galantamine as positive control. <strong>Implications</strong>. These strains can be considered candidates for a deeper chemical-biological study and contribute to the knowledge of novel sources of bioactive fungal metabolites. <strong>Conclusion</strong>. The insect-associated fungi extracts reported in this work showed antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory potential, therefore their metabolites can be used in biomedical and insecticidal applications. </p>