Culture methods for high hydrangenol and phyllodulcin contents in Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata (Thunb.) Makino

Culturing Important Plants for Sweet Secondary Products under Consideration of Environmentally Friendly Aspects

“…Some cultivars have the ability to flower despite losing their buds in the winter. This remontant flowering potential is observed with several of the commercially produced H. macrophylla cultivars [25]. Thus, H. macrophylla shows multifaceted responses to growth stimuli, resulting in an enormous variation of the growth properties, even among the well-established cultivars.…”

“…Phyllodulcin is mainly extracted from the leaves. In certain H. macrophylla cultivars, the contents of the biosynthetic precursor hydrangenol have increased more than tenfold during the last few years [3]. The reason for the increase needs yet further elucidation.…”

“…However, for the profitable extraction of phyllodulcin, plants accumulating high amounts of phenyldihydroisocoumarins are needed. The establishment of conventional culture systems for phyllodulcin production was recently attempted at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, with the aim to develop cultivation regimes that enable the plants to synthesize high amounts of phyllodulcin throughout the year [3] (Figure 1). The propagation of such plants is obtained by cuttings from suitable mother plants.…”

“…Many H. macrophylla cultivars induce their flowers under short day conditions [3]; thus, long daylight regimes may help to prevent flowering. While most species induce their flowers in autumn and, after dormancy, start flowering in the early summer when the days get longer, there are cultivars that behave differently to common stimuli influencing flower induction [24].…”