Junling Shi
College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University

Endophytic fungi are a kind of microorganism that parasites but does not cause disease to plants. Some endophytic fungi showed ability in production of functional compounds that was normally found in plants. Therefore, there is a great potential of these fungi in production of functional foods. In our researches, an endophytic fungus of Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. was discovered in production of pinoresinol diglucoside, the important antihypertensive compound in the plant and some endophytic fungi of grape showed ability in production of resveratrol. The structure analysis showed the microbial PDG is the same as that extracted from the plant. Properties of the isolates and the conditions for production of these functional compounds were also studied. Potential of application of endophytic fungi in functional food processing was also discussed.