Effect of carbon sources on the production of volatile organic compounds by Fusarium verticillioides

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different carbon sources on thehydrocarbon-like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of Fusarium verticillioides strain 7600 througha Principal Component Analysis approach, and to explore their diesel potential by using datafrom the literature. The fungus was cultivated in GYAM culture medium, and five carbon sourceswere evaluated: glucose, sucrose, xylose, lactose, and fructose. The VOCs were collected using aclose-loop apparatus and identified through GC-MS. The same profile of 81 VOCs was detectedwith all treatments, but with different relative percentages among carbon sources. The productionof branched-chain alkanes (30 compounds) ranged from 25.80% to 38.64%, straight-chain alkanes(12 compounds) from 22.04% to 24.18%, benzene derivatives (12 compounds) from 7.48% to 35.58%,and the biosynthesis of branched-chain alcohols (11 compounds) was from 6.82% to 16.71%, withlower values for the remaining groups of VOCs. Our results show that F. verticillioides has themetabolic potential to synthesize diesel-like VOCs. Further research should include the optimizationof culture conditions other than carbon sources to increase the production of certain groups of VOCs.