Metabolite profiling of the undifferentiated cultured cells and differentiated leaf tissues of Centella asiatica

Abstract

Centella asiatica, a perennial herb renowned for its wide range of nutraceuticals properties, is a valuable source of plant secondary metabolites with various pharmacological activities. Novel approaches to develop alternatives for the production and enrichment of these secondary metabolites are receiving much attention, for example the biotechnological manipulation of undifferentiated cells cultures as a potential source of natural products. This study investigated the differences of the metabolite profiles between undifferentiated cells and differentiated leaf tissues of C. asiatica in comparison to a commercially available herbal medicine supplement. The secondary metabolites were extracted using methanol and analysed on an UHPLC-QTOF-MS platform. Metabolites were further identified and characterised based on their MS-fragmentation patterns and through comparison with authentic standards where available. Results revealed the similarities and dissimilarities and showed inter- and intra- relationships amid the different samples. A total of 18 metabolites including a number of hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, flavonoids as well as the four centelloids (pentacyclic triterpenoids) were annotated in different sample groups across the different extracts. The results obtained verified that the different biological systems of C. asiatica are chemo-diverse, possibly related to regional and processing differences, and in the case of cells, to the level of cellular differentiation.