Induction, characterization, and NMR-based metabolic profiling of adventitious root cultures from leaf explants of Gynura procumbens

Abstract

Gynura procumbens is a medicinal plant used in South East Asia to treat various ailments such as rash, hemorrhoids, inflammation, and diabetes. In order to develop a large-scale culture system for G. procumbens biomass containing bioactive compounds, adventitious root cultures were initiated from leaf explants. Murashige and Skoog (MS) media containing different compositions of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 1-naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA), and combinations of both plant growth regulators (PGRs) were evaluated for root induction. A combination of 3 mg/l NAA + 1 mg/l IBA gave the highest root induction (48%) as compared to other PGRs treatments after 9 weeks of incubation period. Subsequently, the adventitious roots were established in liquid culture containing MS medium and the combination of 3 mg/l NAA + 1 mg/l IBA. A study on the medium strength, sucrose concentration, pH, and light versus dark was conducted to optimize the in vitro culture conditions. The results showed that differences in MS medium strength from half to double strength, and light or dark condition did not significantly affect the biomass production, while the initial medium pH of 5.5 and 2% w/v sucrose concentration were most suitable for the root culture growth. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was performed to characterize the metabolite content in the root cultures of G. procumbens. Among the elucidated metabolites were some phenylpropanoids identified as caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid which might be the bioactive compounds associated to the folk use of this plant. © 2012 The Author(s).