Elicitation as yield enhancement strategy for glycyrrhizin production by cell cultures of Abrus precatorius Linn.

Abstract

Glycyrrhizin is an important phytoconstituent of licorice which is widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industry. As the roots and leaves of Abrus precatorius also contain glycyrrhizin, it can be used as an alternative source of glycyrrhizin. In spite of extensive research work undertaken with cultures of Glycyrrhiza glabra, the glycyrrhizin production remains elusive. Successful production of glycyrrhizin in cell cultures of A. precatorius is being reported for the first time in our study. Cell cultures of A. precatorius L. were treated with the elicitors prepared from the fungi (Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus stolonifer), yeast extract, salicylic acid, ascorbic acid, and eugenol to induce and enhance the synthesis of glycyrrhizin. In the present study, an integrated yield enhancement strategy, developed by the addition of selected elicitor (A. niger and ascorbic acid) at optimized concentrations, resulted in 24.6 g/l dry cell weight biomass and 53.62 mg/l glycyrrhizin, which was 5.22 times higher in productivity in comparison to control cultures.

Oxytocin influences the production of glycyrrhizin from cell cultures of Abrus precatorius Linn.

“…No glycyrrhizin was detected in A. precatorius spent culture medium. Our previous report (Karwasara et al 2010) showed that the fungal elicitors prepared from the A. niger and R. stolonifer have higher influence in stimulating glycyrrhizin accumulation (5.2 fold higher) in A. precatorius cell culture than the potency of OT demonstrated in the present study but still the significant effect of OT cannot be ruled out concerning the production of biomass and glycyrrhizin. The results suggest that OT is a potent growth stimulator as well as elicitor for enhanced production of glycyrrhizin.…”

“…Seeds of A. precatorius, were sterilized and germinated by following the protocol described in our previous publication (Karwasara et al 2010). …”

“…Explants taken from aseptically germinated A. precatorius plantlets were used for callus initiation (Karwasara et al 2010). Callus cultures were developed from the various explants like leaf, petiole and epicotyle on different combination and concentration of plant growth regulators.…”

“…Suspension cultures were initiated by transferring about 2 g/l of friable fraction of callus on the dry cell weight (DCW) basis, into a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask containing 55 ml liquid MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l NAA and 1 mg/l Kn as described in Karwasara et al (2010). Cultures were incubated on a gyratory shaker at 110 ± 10 rpm and 27 ± 2°C under 12/12 h light/dark regime and were used for the elicitation experiments.…”

“…The cell biomass estimation and extraction of glycyrrhizin was carried out as described in Karwasara et al (2010).…”