Differential induction of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals in agitated micro-shoot cultures of Ajuga integrifolia Buch. Ham. ex D.Don with biotic elicitors

Muhammad Asad Ullah,Taimoor Khan,Samantha Drouet,Bilal Haider Abbasi,Nathalie Giglioli-Guivarc’H,Duangjai Tungmunnithum,Christophe Hano,Muhammad Naeem Bajwa,Faiza Zareen Gul,Chunzhao Liu

doi:10.1186/s13568-021-01297-3

Abstract

Ajuga integrifolia Buch. Ham. ex D.Don, a member of Lamiaceae family is pharmaceutically an active perennial herb widely spread in China, Afghanistan and Pakistan Himalayan region. The application of biotic elicitors is a promising approach to cover limitations of in vitro cell technology and challenges faced by pharmaceuticals industry for bulk up production. The current study involved the induction of agitated micro-shoot cultures with the aim to investigate the growth-promoting as well as phytochemicals enhancement role of yeast extract (YE) and pectin (PE). The results showed that both elicitors induced a considerable physiological response. Biomass accumulation was observed maximum (DW: 18.3 g/L) against PE (10 mg/L) compared to YE and control. Eleven secondary phytocompounds were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. PE (50 mg/L) was found to be effective in elicitation of rosmarinic acid (680.20 µg/g), chlorogenic acid (294.12 µg/g), apigenin (579.61 µg/g) and quercetin (596.89 µg/g). However, maximum caffeic acid (359.52 µg/g) and luteolin (546.12 µg/g accumulation was noted in PE (1 mg/L) treatment. Harpagide, aucubin, harpagoside and 8-O-acetyl-harpagoside production was suppressed by both elicitors except for YE (100 mg/L). Catalpol accumulation in micro-shoot cultures was also downregulated except in response to YE (50 and 100 mg/L). Antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity remained higher under PE (50 mg/L) and YE (100 mg/L) respectively. Therefore, results suggested that Ajuga integrifolia micro-shoot cultures treated with yeast extract and pectin might be an efficient bio-factory to produce commercially potent specific secondary metabolites.

Highlights

Medicinal plants opted for numerous uses in medicine, flavours, food, cosmetics and other industries (Zhao et al 2005)
Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of micro-shoots culture were investigated against different concentrations of yeast extract (YE) and PE
The trend observed in Total flavonoid production (TFP) was similar to total phenolic contents (TPC), Total phenolic production (TPP) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) as highest TFP (36.3 mg/L) was observed in response to YE (10 mg/L) treated cultures in comparison with PE and control (11.9 mg/L) (Fig. 4d)

Summary

Introduction

Medicinal plants opted for numerous uses in medicine, flavours, food, cosmetics and other industries (Zhao et al 2005). Ham. ex D.Don is a perennial herb, grows 5–50 cm tall and is commonly known as Kauri booti in Pakistan due to vicious taste (Jan et al 2014). It is widespread in Himalayan region of Asia including Pakistan, China and Afghanistan. A. integrifolia (synonym Ajuga bracteosa) contains various bioactive compounds including phytoecdysones, flavonol glycosides, ergosterol-5,8-endoperoxide, neo-clerodane diterpenoids and iridoid glycosides (Fig. 1). Because of these active compounds, A. integrifolia has intensively been used as an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, cardiotonic, antimalarial, antitumor and antioxidant agent (Abbasi et al 2020)

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Results

Conclusion