Cynanchum wilfordii root is used in
traditional
herbal medicine owing to its various pharmacological activities. However, C. wilfordii roots are misused owing to their morphological
similarities with C. auriculatum. Adventitious root
(AR) culture can prevent such misuse, and the selection of plant materials
is an important procedure for producing high-quality ARs. This study
aimed to compare the proliferation and metabolic profiles of C. wilfordii ARs in two types of explants from different
cultivation methods (either cultivated in open field (ECF) or cultivated
on a heap of C. wilfordii (ECH)). After 4 weeks of
culture, the proliferation rate and number and length of secondary
ARs were determined, and 3/4 Murashige and Skoog (MS) salt medium,
4.92 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and 5% sucrose were suggested
as the best proliferation conditions for ARs originating from both
ECF and ECH. Through metabolic profiling, ARs from ECH were found
to show higher accumulation patterns for flavonoids, polysaccharides,
hydroxyacetophenones, aromatic amino acids, and mono-unsaturated fatty
acids, which were ascribed to the activation of flavonoid biosynthesis,
the phenylpropanoid pathway, and fatty acid desaturase, stimulated
by abiotic stresses. In contrast, ARs from ECF had higher levels of
TCA cycle intermediates, amino acids in the aspartate–glutamate
pathway, and saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, indicating
energy metabolism and plant development. Overall, the current study
provided information on the optimal conditions for inducing C. wilfordii ARs with higher amounts of bioactive compounds.