Establishment of hairy roots culture of Perilla frutescens L. and production of phenolic acids

Abstract Perilla frutescens L. is a kind of phenolic acids riches plant. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is the main phenolic acid component in perilla. It has various pharmacological activities such as anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant. In this study, the hairy roots culture of Perilla was established from leaves explants using Agrobacterium rhizogenes C58C1, A4, R1000, and the content of phenolic acids was also determined. The highest RA content in the five obtained fast-growing lines reached 19.08mg/g (DW). The effects of salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment on phenolic acids (Protocatechuic aldehyde, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, RA, and ethyl caffeic acid ) accumulation in hairy roots were also investigated. SA can promote phenolic acid accumulation; the content of RA reached 20.92 mg/g (DW) on day nine after treatment. MeJA can upregulate the RA content to 17.36mg/g (DW) on day three, and then the RA content declined to 4.27mg/g (DW) on day 9. These results showed the high potential of perilla hairy roots to produce phenolic acids. It would be an efficient method for the large-scale production of RA in P. frutescens.