Abstract
Bacopa monnieri has been used as a reputed drug in the Indian traditional ayurvedic system for centuries. This medicinal herb with important phytopharmaceuticals has been popularly known as “Brahmi”. In recent years, B. monnieri has been extensively studied for its bioactive constituents, constituents responsible for memory enhancing effect, and also its diverse other useful effects. It possesses many pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, gastrointestinal, endocrine, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory etc. The plant has been also used for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. Due to its multipurpose therapeutic potential, micropropagation using axillary meristems and de novo organogenesis has been extensively studied in the species and is being reviewed. High frequency direct shoot organogenesis can be induced in excised leaf and internode explants in the absence of exogenous phytohormones and the rate of induction is enhanced in the presence of exogenous cytokinins, supplements, growth regulators, etc. Using explants from tissue culture raised plants, direct shoot regeneration leading to production of more than 100 rooted plants/explant within 8–12 weeks period with 85%–100% survival in the field after acclimatization can be expected following optimized protocols. Bioreactor based micropropagation was found to increase the multiplication rate of shoot cultures for the commercial propagation of B. monnieri plants. The maximum content of bacosides has been recorded in shoot biomass using an airlift bioreactor system. Further studies for the biosynthesis of bacosides and other secondary metabolites need to be conducted in the species utilizing untransformed shoot cultures in bioreactors.
Highlights
Bacopa monnieri L. (Family: Scrophulariaceae), commonly known as ‘Brahmi’, is a perennial and semi- succulent herb which grows in wet, damp, and marshy areas throughout India
It is evident from the review of literature that considerable research has been conducted on the in vitro propagation of Brahmi (B. monnieri) plants and a judicial choice of protocol is required for the mass clonal propagation for cost effective commercialization
The morphogenic potential of B. monnieri explants appears to be very high, as evident in most of studies, the choice of explants and regeneration protocol will be important for maintaining genetic stability avoiding somaclonal variations
Summary
Bacopa monnieri L. (Family: Scrophulariaceae), commonly known as ‘Brahmi’, is a perennial and semi- succulent herb which grows in wet, damp, and marshy areas throughout India. B. monnieri has been placed second in a priority list of the major Indian medicinal plants assessed on the basis of medicinal significance, potential candidate, and commercial value for further research and development [10,11]. It possesses numerous pharmacological activities, including anxiolytic [12], anti-neoplastic [13], anti-depressant [14], anti-ulcerogenic [15], adaptogenic [16], anti-convulsant [17,18,19] etc. The morphogenic potential of explants of B. monnieri favors its use as a model plant for in vitro studies on the expression of transgenes on organogenesis in vitro and functional studies on bacoside synthesis in vitro, avoiding the effects of exogenous phytohormones
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