Suspension Cell Culture of Dioscorea deltoidea—A Renewable Source of Biomass and Furostanol Glycosides for Food and Pharmaceutical Industry

Maria V Titova,Elena V Popova,Galina S Tolmacheva,Svetlana V Konstantinova,Ekaterina R Vasilevskaya,Alexandr M Nosov,Andrey G Klyushin,Dmitry V Kochkin,Elena A Nebera,Elena G Titova,Kee-Yoeup Paek,Elena A Kotenkova,Igor M Ivanov

doi:10.3390/agronomy11020394

Abstract

Dioscorea deltoidea is a medicinal plant valued for its high content of steroidal glycosides (SG)—bioactive compounds with cardioprotective and immunomodulation actions, also used to treat reproductive system disorders. To overcome the limitations of natural resources of this species, a suspension cell culture of D. deltoidea was developed as a renewable and ecologically sustainable source of raw biomass and SG. Cell culture demonstrated stable and intensive growth in the laboratory (20 L) and industrial (630 L) bioreactors operated under a semi-continuous regime (specific growth rate 0.11–1.12 day−1, growth index 3.5–3.7). Maximum dry weight accumulation (8.5–8.8 g/L) and SG content (47–57 mg/g DW) were recorded during the stationary phase. Bioreactor-produced cell biomass contained inorganic macro (K, Ca, Mg, Na) and micro (Zn, Mn, Fe, B, Al, Cu, Cr, Se, Co, Ni) elements in concentrations within the safe range of dietary recommendations. Acute toxicity test showed no or insignificant changes in organ weight, hematological panel and blood biochemistry of laboratory animals fed with 2000 and 5000 mg/kg dry biomass. The results suggest that cell culture of D. deltoidea grown in bioreactors has great potential to be used as functional foods and a component of specialized dietary supplements in complex therapy of reproductive system disorders and mineral deficiency.

Highlights

Steroidal glycosides (SG), the products of isoprenoid metabolism in plants, are of particular interest for pharmacology, veterinary science, and food and agricultural industries as they have been demonstrated to be efficient and safe in treating or mitigating a variety of adverse disease symptoms [1,2]
Earlier we reported the development of several strains of suspension cell culture of D. deltoidea as an alternative source of Furostanol Glycosides (FG) protodioscin and deltoside specific for this species [23]
Cell suspension of D. deltoidea was successfully cultured in laboratory (20 L) and industrial (630 L) bioreactors using the semi-continuous regime

Summary

Introduction

Steroidal glycosides (SG), the products of isoprenoid metabolism in plants, are of particular interest for pharmacology, veterinary science, and food and agricultural industries as they have been demonstrated to be efficient and safe in treating or mitigating a variety of adverse disease symptoms [1,2]. SG from Dioscorea spp. have been shown to successfully stabilize the endocrine profile in both men and women [1,2,3,4]. They have restorative and mild anabolic effects, improve stress resistance and endurance during intensive physical activity, and participate in the regulation of blood pressure and lipid content in blood [1,4,5,6,7]. SG affect human and animal reproductive systems [13] They were found to have a pronounced immunomodulating effect influencing different lymphocyte subpopulations. The ability of Dioscorea spp. to stimulate protein synthesis and to activate succinic dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and cytochrome oxidase (enzymes involved in energy metabolism) was reported [15]

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