Production of Bioactive Compounds through in vitro Technologies of Critically Endangered Herb Swertia chirayita and Exploration of its Biological Activities

Abstract

Swertia chirayita, an indigenous ethno medicinal herb of the temperate Himalayas, which has been in use since ages in the Indian subcontinent. S. chirayita is a rich reservoir of phytochemicals mainly Amarogentin and Mangiferin, which are used in various herbal formulations as well as to cure cancerous and diabetic disorders. These important biomarker compounds are of great interest to the pharmaceutical industries. The population of S. chirayita has declined drastically in the natural habitat as a result the species has been, categorized as critically endangered herb by the IUCN. Accordingly, the current study focused on development of tissue culture platform to counter extinction concerns and meet the rising demand for medicinally and industrially significant biomarker compounds of S. chirayita. newlineUsing the RP-HPLC method, the contents of bioactive compounds (Amarogentin and Mangiferin) were determined in S. chirayita at two different temperatures, 15 ± 1and#730;C and 25 ± 1and#730;C, during various phases of development. Each developmental stage of tissue cultured S. chirayita was explored, beginning with the leaf discs and progressing to callus induction and complete shoot regeneration. Amarogentin and Mangiferin had maximum concentrations of 5.79 and 15.56 µg/mg at 15 ± 1and#730;C, respectively. On completion of 80 days, the regenerated shoots grown in the full strength MS media provided with 3 mg/l IBA and 1 mg/l KN showed the greatest concentration of bioactive components. Tissue cultured grown shoots showed 8.51 folds higher Amarogentin and 4.09 folds higher Mangiferin, as compared to the field grown plants, respectively. As a result, for the first time, distinct spotting of developmental stages with biosynthesis of biomarker compounds at each stage was identified. newline newlineGiven that there is no information available yet, on the use of distinct light treatments on the synthesis of medicinal metabolites (Amarogentin and Mangiferin) in the S. chirayita tissue culture system, this study examined the impact of various lighting scenarios