Production Enhancement of Medicinally Active Coumarin and Phenolic Compounds in Hairy Root Cultures of Pelargonium sidoides: The Effect of Elicitation and Sucrose

African geranium (Pelargonium sidoides DC., Geraniaceae) is a herbaceous perennial plant with well-known medicinal properties. In the present study, the effect of elicitation by methyl jasmonate (MeJ) (25, 50, and 100 mu M) and sucrose (15 and 30 g/L) on the fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW) and the production of pharmaceutically active coumarin (umckalin) and phenolics (gallic, vanillic, and p-coumaric acids) in P. sidoides hairy root cultures was investigated. Hairy roots were induced from the leaves of in vitro sterile P. sidoides seedlings inoculated with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains (LBA-9402, C58C1) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 (pRiA4). Among the fifteen evaluated hairy root lines (HRLs), HRL4 showed the highest accumulation of biomass (9.6 g FW and 0.56 DW) and was selected for elicitation and sucrose management for 50 days in a shaking system. The treated HRs, developed in Murashige and Skoog liquid media, demonstrated the highest FW (32.68 g) and DW (1.1 g) 50 days after elicitation with 100 mu M of MeJ. However, a 1.4-fold enhancement of gallic and vanillic acids was achieved with 50 and 25 mu M of MeJ, respectively, in HRs under control conditions. The highest accumulation of umckalin (1.61-fold increase compared to the control) was obtained with 100 mu M of MeJ. These findings can be useful to develop commercial production of umckalin and phenolics in P. sidoides HR cultures in scaled-up systems and bioreactors.

Automated summary

The study investigated the effect of MeJ and sucrose on P. sidoides hairy root cultures, finding that 100 μM MeJ led to the highest accumulation of umckalin and phenolics. These findings could be beneficial for developing commercial production in scaled-up systems and bioreactors.