Establishment of Afgekia mahidolae B.L. Burtt & Chermsir in vitro culture and effect of elicitation on its bioactive compounds

Abstract

Afgekia mahidolae is a rare plant species that possesses antioxidant, antimicrobial, and wound healing properties. This study aimed to establish the in vitro culture of A. mahidolae and investigate the effects of elicitors on their phenolic and flavonoid production, including the antioxidant activities. The established callus was prepared in the form of cell suspension cultures to determine the effect of elicitors. After elicitation for 3 days, A. mahidolae cell suspension cultures treated by 5 µM salicylic acid or 100 mg/L yeast extract exhibited significantly higher levels of total phenolic and total flavonoid content than untreated cultures, which correlated to the antioxidant activities. In addition, the profiles of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in the callus and intact leaves of A. mahidolae were determined by LC-MS, which showed different phytochemicals. The findings of this study may encourage more sustainable development of A. mahidolae cultivation.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Afgekia mahidolae
• plant tissue culture
• phenolic
• flavonoid
• antioxidant
• elicitor
• LC-MS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was conducted and supported by the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. The authors would like to thank the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand for the partial financial funding and the Center of Analysis for Product Quality (CAPQ), Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand for the support of UHPLC-HR-ESI-QTOFMS/MS experiments.