In vitro Root Culture : An Alternative Source of Bioactives in the Rare Aphrodisiac Herb Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant et Fern

Abstract

Chlorophytum borivilianum is a rare, near-endemic high value root crop. The fasciculated roots of the plant have the potential to synthesize valuable bioactives having aphrodisiac, anti stress and immuno modulatory properties. The present investigation describes an alternative protocol for the development of a stable, fast growing, non-transformed root culture system in C. borivilianum and the simultaneous quantitative analysis of total steroidal saponins, amino acids and sugars. Liquid MS fortified with various concentrations and combinations of BA (0.44 -8.8 μM), Kn (0.23 μM) and NAA (0.27 -5.4 μM) was effectively used for the development of root culture system. High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used for quantification and comparative analysis of bioactives from in vitro and in vivo grown tuberous roots.

Recent advances in steroidal saponins biosynthesis and in vitro production

“…It is easy to culture root tissues of dicot plant but in the case of monocot plants where root forms modified structures such as bulb, corm or tubers the root culture seems to be difficult but the tuberous root culture of Chlorophytum borivilianum was developed and considerable amount of saponin was quantified (Basu and Jha 2015). Effect of growth regulators was determined in the adventitious root culture of Dioscorea nipponica and it was observed that dioscin and prosapogenin C content in indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) treated roots were significantly higher as compared to 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) treated roots (Ahn et al 2005).…”