Detection of elicitation effect on Hyoscyamus niger L. root cultures for the root growth and production of tropane alkaloids

Abstract

Hyoscyamus niger is an important medicinal plant and reported to be used for the treatment of various ailments. The present study tested the effect of different elicitor such as chitosan, casein hydrolysate, yeast extract and d-sorbitol on cell biomass, alkaloid production and root growth and proliferation in H. niger cell. Different concentration of chitosan, casein hydrolysate, yeast extract and d-sorbitol were added as elicitor to optimize cell biomass and alkaloid production. Addition of chitosan as elicitor in modified MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l -1 IBA suppressed the root growth and biomass production of H. niger, whereas addition of casein hydrolysate and d-sorbitol also did not show any significant increment in root production and accumulation of scopolamine and hyoscyamine. Addition of yeast extract in the root cultures of H. niger did not enhance root growth and hyoscyamine production but the addition of 0.5 g l -1 and 1.0 g l -1 yeast extracts enhanced the scopolamine production. As a whole, the results showed that MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 IBA could be used for root culture of H. niger and elicitation was not necessary for the production of tropane alkaloids (scopolamine and hyoscyamine). The best root growth and proliferation was observed in 100 ml flask with maximum fresh biomass after three weeks of culture.