Accumulation of madecassoside - a major component of centelloside - in centella (Centella asiatica (L.) Urban) cells elicited by salicylic acid

Background and Purpose: Use of elicitors is one of the most important methods to increase the production of secondary metabolites in plants. Salicylic acid (SA) is a common chemical elicitors and also a signal molecules in signal transduction systems stimulate the biosynthesis of metabolic enzymes. However, its influence on the accumulation of madecassoside, a valuable bioactive compound, in centella cell cultures is still not studied. Materials and Methods: Callus of centella (Centella asiatica (L.) Urban) was used to establish cell suspension culture on the MS (Murashige and Skoog 1962) medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 3 mg/L thidiazuron. The cell biomass was harvested after 24 days of culture. Different concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) from 50 to 200 µM were added to the medium at the beginning of cell culture, and days 5, 10 and 15 after inoculation to investigate the effect of elicitation on the biosynthesis of madecassoside in centella cells.Results and Conclusions: The study results showed the growth of cells treated with 100 µM SA was significantly inhibited at 10th day after inoculation. Meanwhile, the madecassoside content achieved a highest value of 114.25 mg/g dry weight, 4 -fold higher than the control.