Optimisation of gentiopicroside production in Gentiana kurroo Royle from adventitious root cultures in a liquid culture system

Abstract

Gentiana kurroo Royle is a critically endangered medicinal herb of the Indian Himalaya. It has bioactive seco-iridoid glycosides, notably gentiopicroside, in the rhizome and roots. In this study, we report on the in vitro production of gentiopicroside (GPD) from adventitious (AD) roots induced directly from the leaf, nodal, and suspension cell cultures of G. kurroo. Murashige and Skoog (MS) media fortified with Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) 2 mg L−1 + Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) 0.5 mg L−1 and IBA 2 mg L−1 + Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) 1 mg L−1 produced the maximum number of roots. Suspension cell cultures derived AD roots showed a 1.41-fold higher biomass production than adventitious roots induced from leaf and nodal explants. Among the various concentrations of MS media salts evaluated, half-strength MS suspension media favored the higher biomass and GPD accumulation. The maximum accumulation of GPD (2.58 mg g –l dry weight (DW)) and AD root biomass (18.96 g L−1 DW) was observed on the 48th day. Furthermore, GPD produced from AD root cultures were separated by using TLC, characterized using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and High-Resolution Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (HR LC-MS) and quantified with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).