Suspension Cell Culture of Dioscorea deltoidea—A Renewable Source of Biomass and Furostanol Glycosides for Food and Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

Dioscorea deltoidea is a medicinal plant valued for its high content of steroidal glycosides (SG) – bioactive compounds with cardioprotective and immunomodulation actions, also used to treat reproductive system disorders. To overcome the limitations of natural resources of this species, a suspension cell culture of D. deltoidea was developed as a renewable and ecologically sustainable source of raw biomass and SG. Cell culture demonstrated stable and intensive growth in the laboratory (20 L) and industrial (630 L) bioreactors operated under a semi-continuous regime (specific growth rate 0.11–1.12 day−1, growth index 3.5–3.7). Maximum dry weight accumulation (8.5–8.8 g/L) and SG content (47–57 mg/g DW) were recorded during the stationary phase. Bioreactor-produced cell biomass contained inorganic macro (К, Ca, Mg, Na) and micro (Zn, Mn, Fe, B, Al, Cu, Cr, Se, Co, Ni) elements in concentrations within the safe range of dietary recommendations. Acute toxicity test showed no or insignificant changes in organ weight, hematological panel and blood biochemistry of laboratory animals fed with 2000 and 5000 mg/kg dry biomass. The results suggest that cell culture of D. deltoidea grown in bioreactors has great potential to be used as functional foods and a component of specialized dietary supplements in complex therapy of reproductive system disorders and mineral deficiency.

Effect of Phytopreparations Based on Bioreactor-Grown Cell Biomass of Dioscorea deltoidea, Tribulus terrestris and Panax japonicus on Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Recently, Lagunin et al [32] suggested high antihypoxic activity of phytopreparations based on P. japonicus, D. deltoidea and T. terrestris cell cultures that, in the case of P. japonicus and T. terrestris, exceeded the effect of the reference drug Mexidol. In addition, the cell biomass of D. deltoidea showed low toxicity in rats when administered orally even at high doses, up to 5 g/kg animal body weight [25].…”

“…Dioscorea deltoidea, Tribulus terrestris and Panax japonicus are medicinal plants that are known to exhibit a large spectrum of pharmacological activities; however, their natural resources are dwindling [23][24][25]. Suspension cell cultures with the ability to produce triterpene and steroidal glycosides have been developed in our laboratory as a sustainable source of biomass and bioactive ingredients of these species [26][27][28][29][30], and their biochemical profiles have been investigated by using various methods [21,[28][29][30][31].…”

“…For example, the cell culture of D. deltoidea contains only glycosides of furostanol type, while the spirostanol type glycosides were mostly found in the plant rhizomes [21]. These two types of glycosides have very different, sometimes opposite, biological activities [25]. Cell culture of P. japonicus accumulates mostly "acidic" ginsenosides (malonyl derivatives of dammarane ginsenosides and glycosides of oleanolic acid) by contrast to plant roots where neutral ginsenosides are prevailing [28].…”

“…Phytochemical analysis of cell biomass for secondary metabolites was performed by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV), high-performance liquid chromatographyelectrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS), ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS) and spectrophotometry as previously described [25,[27][28][29][30]33].…”

“…Identification of steroidal glycosides in biomass of D. deltoidea cell culture was performed by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), infrared spectroscopy (analysis of aglycones) [21,35], HPLC-UV [36], HPLC-ESI-MS [25,37] and NMR spectroscopy [30]. Quantitative analysis of steroidal glycosides was performed by using HPLC-ESI-MS [25].…”