Development of Betalain Producing Callus Lines from Colored Quinoa Varieties (Chenopodium quinoa Willd)

Abstract

Betalains are water-soluble plant pigments of hydrophilic nature with promising bioactive potential. Among the scarce edible sources of betalains is the grain crop quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd), with violet, red, and yellow grains being colored by these pigments. In this work, callus cultures have been developed from differently colored plant varieties. Stable callus lines exhibited color and pigment production when maintained on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with the plant growth regulators 6-benzylaminopurine (8.88 μM) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (6.79 μM) with a reduction of the nitrogen source to 5.91 mM. Pigment analysis by HPLC-DAD and ESI-MS/MS fully describes the content of individual pigments in the cell lines and allows the first report on the pigments present in quinoa seedlings. Phyllocactin and vulgaxanthin I are described as novel pigments in the species and show the potential of C. quinoa culture lines in the production of compounds of nutritional value.

Research Progress of Betalain in Response to Adverse Stresses and Evolutionary Relationship Compared with Anthocyanin

“…Faced with human needs for resources such as pigments, energy and food, betalain biosynthesis-related genes may be a series of important, alternative and potential pigment genes, such as the genes related to DOD and cytochrome P450 series, with the help of genetic engineering technology [74], which are worthy of further investigation. Some studies have produced betalain through the callus that produces betalain, which opens a door for the rapid and large production of natural bioactive betalain and might be benefit for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries [15]. Some study can produce betalain in Arabidopsis transformed with the gene from betalain biosynthesis pathway, such as BvMYB1 [27], even just given a single enzyme (DOD) and a enzyme’s substrate (L-DOPA) [82], which not only provide the possibility of enhancing the resistance of non-betalain-producing species, but also opens up new ways to produce betalain.…”

“…Here, A 538 and A 465 represent the absorbance of betacyanin and betaxanthin, respectively; DF is the dilution factor; MW is the molecular weight (550 g mol −1 for betanin and 308 g mol −1 for indicaxanthin); ε is the molar extinction coefficient (60,000 L mol −1 ·cm −1 for betanin and 48,000 L mol −1 ·cm −1 for indicaxanthin) [11,12]; and L is the path length of the 1 cm cuvette. In addition, the identification and detection of betalains can be performed using more advanced techniques, e.g., high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and positive ion electrospray mass spectrometry [13,14], HPLC- diode-array detector (DAD), HPLC-MS, HPLC-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and NMR techniques [15,16,17]. These methods can provide some data support for changes in the biosynthesis pathway of betalain, such as different content of betanin and phyllocactin detected in callus lines from colored quinoa varieties ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd) indicates that the biosynthesis pathway of betalain has been altered with the main accumulation of the intermediate instead of the final compound [15].…”

Scaled‐up biotechnological production of individual betalains in a microbial system

“…To date, obtaining betalains and purifying them from whole plants have depended directly on availability throughout the year and on environmental variables that affect their production (Khan et al ., ). Other methods used are by a semi‐synthesis method, which requires obtaining betalamic acid from the degradation of betanin (Gandía‐Herrero et al ., ), or the production of betalains in plant cell cultures (Guadarrama‐Flores et al ., ; Milech et al ., ; Henarejos‐Escudero et al ., ). However, the main problem these techniques present is their low efficiency in the production of pure betalains.…”

Study on Betalains in Celosia cristata Linn. Callus Culture and Identification of New Malonylated Amaranthins

“…Several betalains have been produced by in vitro cultures of such plants as Myrtillocactus geometrizans Mart., Portulaca grandiflora Hook., Beta vulgaris L., Chenopodium rubrum L., Chenopodium quinoa Willd, and Phytolacca americana L., with the purpose of studying their biosynthesis and eventual commercial application. − Studies on M. candida Scheidw. callus were performed to achieve cultures with higher pigmentation, however, no pigment identification was accomplished.…”