The influence of liquid systems for shoot multiplication, secondary metabolite production and plant regeneration of Scutellaria alpina

To establish an effective system for shoot multiplication and bioactive metabolite (baicalin, wogonoside, luteolin, luteolin-7-glucoside and verbascoside) production, shoot tips of Scutellaria alpina were grown in various culture systems: 0.35 and 0.7% agar solidified medium, liquid stationary culture, and 5 L sprinkle bioreactor. S. alpina appeared very sensitive to immersion in the culture medium, and support was needed to achieve shoot proliferation in the liquid stationary culture. For this purpose, bacterial nanocellulose and polyurethane foam or steel mesh in bioreactor system as support were used. The liquid nanocellulose-supported culture system gave the greatest shoot proliferation rates (36.1 +/- 4.9 within 5 weeks). Shoots multiplied in the liquid supported media had greater fresh and dry weights and accumulated higher levels of metabolites. The most evident differences in metabolite content were observed when liquid supported cultures were compared with culture on 0.7% agar solidified medium. The study presents for the first time the use of the liquid culture systems together with bioreactor culture for in vitro S. alpina shoot multiplication and production of therapeutically valuable metabolites.