Resveratrol is extensively being used as a therapeutic moiety, as well as a pharmacophore for development of new drugs due to its multifarious beneficial effects. The objective of the present study was to isolate and screen the resveratrol-producing endophytic fungi from different varieties of Vitis vinifera. A total of 53 endophytic fungi belonging to different fungal genera were isolated from the stem and leaf tissues of Vitis vinifera (merlot, wild, pinot noir, Shiraz, muscat) from different grape-producing locations of India. Only 29 endophytic fungal isolates exhibited a positive test for phenolics by phytochemical methods. The resveratrol obtained after ethyl acetate extraction was confirmed using standard molecule on thin layer chromatography (TLC) with a retention factor (Rf) of 0.69. The purified and standard resveratrol were visualized under UV light as a violet-colored spot. In HPLC analysis of the ethyl acetate extract of culture broth of 11 endophytic isolates, the highest resveratrol content was found in #12VVLPM (89.1 μg/ml) followed by #18VVLPM (37.3 μg/ml) and 193VVSTPM (25.2 μg/ml) exhibiting a retention time of 3.36 min which corresponded to the standard resveratrol. The resveratrol-producing isolates belong to seven genera viz. Aspergillus, Botryosphaeria, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Arcopilus, and Lasiodiplodia, and using morphological and molecular methods, #12VVLPM was identified as Arcopilus aureus.
Keywords: Arcopilus sp.; Endophyte; Fungi; Grapes; Resveratrol.