Effect of biotic elicitors on polyphenol production in Cayratia trifolia cell suspension cultures analyzed by HPLC

Cayratia trifolia Linn. Domin Syn. Vitis trifolia (family: Vitaceae ) contains polyphenols as major bioactive compounds. Plant polyphenolics, such as stilbenes, possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological and therapeutic effects, including antioxidative, anticancerous, antiatherosclerotic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective effects. Elicitation is one of the important strategies to enhance secondary metabolite production in cell suspension cultures. In the present study, the effect of two biotic elicitors, namely one fungal (Fusarium sp., and Helminthosporium sp.) extract and another higher plant-originated gum (Anogeissus latifolia ), was evaluated for enhanced production of stilbenes in cell suspension culture of C. trifolia. For the fungal elicitor, the cell suspension cultures of C. trifolia were treated with varying concentrations of Fusarium extract (FE) and Helminthosporium extract (HE) on the 7th day of culture. Increasing concentration of FE in the medium resulted in slightly decreased cell growth but increased the production of stilbenes, with the optimal concentration at 1000 mg/l. This increase in the yield of stilbenes was -5 times (9.30 mg/l) higher than the control value. HE was less effective than FE in increasing stilbene production at optimal concentrations. The addition of 50 mg/l A. latifolia plant gum sieved through a 150 mesh (0.1 mm) to C. trifolia cell culture enhanced stilbene accumulation and yield by 8- to 9-fold over the control value.