Isolated Endophytic Fungi from the Plant Curcuma longa and Their Potential Bioactivity—A Review

Endophytes (both fungi and bacteria) represent a treasure house for bioactive compounds such as anticancer, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antiparasitic, insecticidal etc. for use in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Endophytic population is greatly influenced by climatic conditions and location where the host plant grows. Curcuma longa L. (Turmeric) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family that is usually used as spice and preservative. Traditionally it is used to treat various conditions and symptoms such as digestive disorders, arthritis, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, bacterial infections etc. In recent times, there have been different discoveries on endophytic fungi and their biological activity from C. longa. But there is no comprehensive review on endophytic fungi of C. longa. The aim of this review is to analyze the published report based on the endophytic fungi to provide for the first time an updated information about their isolation from different tissues, their biological activities including the phytochemistry of C. longa. This will lead the way to forecast the missing link for future research work.