Species-Specific Secondary Metabolites from Primula veris subsp. veris Obtained In Vitro Adventitious Root Cultures: An Alternative for Sustainable Production

Virginia Sarropoulou, Eirini Sarrou, Andrea Angeli, Stefan Martens, Eleni Maloupa and Katerina Grigoriadou ()
Additional contact information
Virginia Sarropoulou: Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia-Laboratory for the Conservation and Evaluation of Native and Floricultural Species, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Thermi, P.O. Box 60458, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece
Eirini Sarrou: Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia-Laboratory for the Conservation and Evaluation of Native and Floricultural Species, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Thermi, P.O. Box 60458, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece
Andrea Angeli: Fondazione Edmund Mach, Center of Research and Innovation, San Michele all’ Adige, 38098 Trento, Italy
Stefan Martens: Fondazione Edmund Mach, Center of Research and Innovation, San Michele all’ Adige, 38098 Trento, Italy
Eleni Maloupa: Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia-Laboratory for the Conservation and Evaluation of Native and Floricultural Species, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Thermi, P.O. Box 60458, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece
Katerina Grigoriadou: Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia-Laboratory for the Conservation and Evaluation of Native and Floricultural Species, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Thermi, P.O. Box 60458, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: Primula veris subsp. veris L. is a perennial herbaceous and medicinal plant species the roots and flowers of which are a source of valuable pharmaceutical raw materials. The plant tissues are used to produce expectorant and diuretic drugs due to their high content of triterpene saponins and phenolic glycosides. Underground roots of P. veris can be obtained only through a destructive process during the plant’s harvesting. In the present study, an in vitro adventitious root production protocol was developed as an alternative way of production, focused on four species-specific secondary metabolites. Root explants were cultured in Murashing & Skoog liquid medium supplemented with 5.4 μM α-naphthaleneacetic acid, 0.5 μM kinetin, L-proline 100 mg/L, and 30 g/L sucrose, in the dark and under agitation. The effect of temperature (10, 15 and 22 °C) on biomass production was investigated. The content of two flavonoid compounds (primeverin and primulaverin), and two main triterpene saponins (primulic acid I and II) were determined after 60 days of culture and compared with 1.5-year-old soil-grown plants. The accumulated content (mg/g DW) of bioactive compounds of in vitro adventitious roots cultured under 22 °C was significantly higher than the other two temperatures of the study, being 9.71 mg/g DW in primulaverin, 0.09 mg/g DW in primeverin, 6.09 mg/g DW in primulic acid I, and 0.51 mg/g DW in primulic acid II. Compared to the soil-grown roots (10.23 mg/g DW primulaverin, 0.28 mg/g DW primeverin, 17.01 mg/g DW primulic acid I, 0.09 mg/g DW primulic acid II), the in vitro grown roots at 22 °C exhibited a 5.67-fold higher content in primulic acid II. However, primulic acid I and primeverin content were approximately three-fold higher in soil-grown roots, while primulaverin content were at similar levels for both in vitro at 22 °C and soil-grown roots. From our results, tissue culture of P. veris subsp. veris could serve not only for propagation but also for production of species-specific secondary metabolites such as primulic acid II through adventitious root cultures. This would therefore limit the uncontrolled collection of this plant from its natural environment and provide natural products free from pesticides in a sustainable way.

Keywords: methylated flavonoid glycosides; primeverin; primulaverin; primulic acids; triterpene saponins; UPLC-MS/MS; MRM analyses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2452/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2452/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2452-:d:1051179

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().