Influence of calcium and magnesium elimination on plant biomass and secondary metabolites of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

Abstract

This study reports the increment in the secondary metabolites in Stevia rebaudiana plant after exposure to the elimination of Ca and Mg from Murashige and Skoog culture medium. The effect of nutrient stress on regenerants of S. rebaudiana is measured, which reveals significantly enhanced growth parameters, steviol glycosides (SGs) content, and nonenzymatic antioxidants; total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total antioxidant capacity, total reducing power, and DPPH‐free radical scavenging activity as compared with the control treatment. However, significantly highest amounts are obtained in a medium with only Ca deficiency. The amount of rebaudioside A (Reb A) and stevioside (ST) obtained in the case of Ca‐deficient medium is 4.08 and 0.69%, respectively. It is followed by the results obtained from both Ca‐ and Mg‐deprived medium [Reb A (3.23%) and ST (0.52%)] and the lowest values are obtained from medium lacking Mg only [Reb A (2.60%) and ST (0.40%)]. The most probable adaptation mechanism might be the production of reactive oxygen species by nutrients’ stress, which results in secondary metabolites production as defensive moieties to overcome stress situation. This effective protocol needs to be refined to apply on an industrial scale in bioreactors for increasing quantities of commercially important pharmaceutical compounds.

Modeling potential distribution of newly recorded ant, Brachyponera nigrita using Maxent under climate change in Pothwar region, Pakistan

“…Climate Change has been recognized as obvious and emerging global phenomenon. It’s adverse effects on biological entities have also been reported throughout the world [ 1 – 6 ]. The Fifth Assessment Report recently presented by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) emphasized on the reduction of anthropogenic climate change, produced by greenhouse gas emission [ 7 ].…”

Establishing the Relationship Between Flavonoid Content, Mycorrhization, and Soil Nutritional Content in Different Species of the Genus Passiflora in Colombia

“…This may be because P plays an important role in the growth and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants. In the absence of P, plants produce flavonoids in response to this stress. − Similarly, Mg saturation, it has been reported that Mg 2+ ion deficiency increases oxidative stress, leading to changes in plant secondary metabolism. , In contrast, Ca addition in Cicer arietinum L. plants resulted in a significant increase in flavonoid content . Calcium ions are directly involved in the synthesis of plant secondary metabolites .…”

“…51−53 Similarly, Mg saturation, it has been reported that Mg 2+ ion deficiency increases oxidative stress, leading to changes in plant secondary metabolism. 54,55 In contrast, Ca addition in Cicer arietinum L. plants resulted in a significant increase in flavonoid content. 56 Calcium ions are directly involved in the synthesis of plant secondary metabolites.…”

RNA editing events and expression profiles of mitochondrial protein-coding genes in the endemic and endangered medicinal plant, Corydalis saxicola

“…In plants, Ca 2+ not only provides structural stability, but also acts as a dynamic intracellular messenger involved in stress response and development ( He et al., 2021 ; Pirayesh et al., 2021 ). Ca 2+ was also demonstrated to be involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites ( Martins et al., 2021 ; Ahmad et al., 2022 ). As a plant native to karst regions, C. saxicola is particularly resistant to calcium.…”