Abstract
Panax quinquefolium is a perennial herb of the Araliaceae family native to North America. Its roots have been used in traditional and Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to determine the phenolic profile of methanolic extracts of P. quinquefolium hairy roots cultivated in flasks and a bioreactor, as well as extracts from the roots of three-year-old field-grown plants. Additionally, the phenol and ginsenoside components of the tested extracts were identified by HPLC, and their antioxidant and cytotoxic properties were evaluated. The antioxidant effect was evaluated by FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power), and ABTS ([2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) cation scavenging tests, and their effect on the viability of the glioblastoma cell (T98G) line was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The LC–MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of 16 phenolic compounds identified as phenolic acids (ten compounds) or flavonoids (six compounds). The highest phenol content was observed in the transformed roots of flask-grown P. quinquefolium (1.6 mg g−1 d.w.), followed by these grown in the bioreactor (1.1 mg g−1 d.w.). However, the highest ginsenoside content was found in the roots of the naturally-cultivated plants (67.6 mg g−1 d.w.). The methanolic extracts from hairy root culture of P. quinquefolium appear to have significant antioxidant and cytotoxic potential. Such transformed American ginseng root cultures could represent a potential source of bioactive metabolites for the food or pharmaceutical industry.
Highlights
Antioxidants are chemical compounds that neutralize free radicals, which are formed physiologically in the organism from oxygen
The ginsenoside content was determined in three sets of plants: hairy root cultures cultivated in shake flasks (FHR), cultures grown in the nutrient sprinkle bioreactor (BHR), and the roots of three-year-old P. quinquefolium plants cultivated in the field (FR)
After 28-day cultivation, the roots growing in the bioreactor proved to be a better source of all ginsenosides than the cultures cultivated in shake flasks: The bioreactor cultures accumulated 35.1 ± 5.25 mg g−1 d.w. of total saponins (TGC), this being 2.8 times more than in the flask-grown roots (12.5 ± 3.02 mg g−1 d.w.)
Summary
Antioxidants are chemical compounds that neutralize free radicals, which are formed physiologically in the organism from oxygen They have many important functions: under normal physiological conditions, reactive oxygen species (ROS) act as mediators and regulators of plant metabolism. High ROS concentrations trigger and intensify the processes of biomolecule damage that may cause enzyme inactivation, DNA strand breaks and mutations, leading to the development of tumors (Kasote et al 2015) At both the cellular and organism levels, antioxidant protection is provided by numerous enzymes and endogenous small molecular weight antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, glutathione and tocopherols, as well as various other metabolites isolated from plants (Matkowski 2008; Kasote et al 2015; Sukweenadhi et al 2017)
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