<i>Penicillium janthinellum</i>: A Potential Producer of Natural Products

<i>Penicillium</i> is a kind of common filamentous fungi yielding high levels of secondary metabolites with diverse structures and attractive activities. Among these fungi, <i>Penicillium janthinellum</i> is a potential producer of secondary metabolites whose natural products have been noticed due to their various chemical structures and biological activities. This review summarizes the sources, distribution, bioactivities and structural characteristics of compounds isolated from <i>P. janthinellum</i> from 1980 to 2023. A total of 153 natural products have been isolated from <i>P. janthinellum</i>, of which 65 were new compounds. The compounds separated from <i>P. janthinellum</i> exhibit diverse skeletal chemical structures, concentrated in the categories of polyketides (40%), alkaloids (31%) and terpenoids (14%). <i>P. janthinellum</i>-derived compounds display attractive biological activities, such as cytotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities. These results indicate that <i>P. janthinellum</i> is a potential fungus for producing bioactive secondary metabolites which can be used as precursors for new drugs.