GC–MS approaches for the screening of metabolites produced by marine-derived Aspergillus

In the last decades the increasing awareness by the scientific community of the importance to exploit natural resources for the finding of new bioactive products has stimulated a huge research activity concerning the marine biological resources, and advanced strategies have been developed for investigations on microbial metabolomics. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry represents a valuable technology in this respect. The present review considers general GC–MS approaches to be adopted in investigations on fungal metabolomics, and more particularly the outcomes concerning marine-derived strains of Aspergillus, representing the most widespread genus of Ascomycetes fungi reported from the sea.