Production of Oleanolic and Ursolic Acids by Callus Cultures of Salvia Tomentosa Mill.

ABSTRACT

Callus cultures of Salvia tomentosa Mill. were induced and analyzed for their capacity to produce oleanolic and ursolic acids. The obtained callus lines showed high variability in their biosynthetic potentials. Flow cytometric investigations showed that this variability was due to polyploidization of plant cells in calli. Polyploidization of callus cell seems to be promoted by the growth regulators used for callus induction. One octaploid line (consisting of 8C, 16C and 32C cells) was selected as prospective producer of oleanolic (991.57 μg/g DW) and ursolic (641.85 μg/g DW) acids. To our knowledge, this is the first report for obtaining of triterpenes producing callus culture of S. tomentosa Mill.

Keywords:

• sage
• triterpenic acids
• in vitro systems
• somaclonal variation
• polyploidy
• flow cytometry