Regeneration and chemical profiling in Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br.

Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. (Anantmoola) is an important medicinal plant of India, which is being used in many pharmaceutical as well as ayurvedic preparations. The present study deals with the development of an efficient rapid shoot regeneration along with their biosynthetic potential. Shoot cultures were established from nodes of H. indicus using Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium fortified with sucrose (3%), different concentrations and combinations of cytokinins viz. benzyladenine (BA) and kinetin (Kn), auxins viz. indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Optimum number of shoots (11.00 ± 0.24 shoots/explant) were observed in MS medium supplemented with combination of BA (10 μM) and Kn (5 μM). These shoots were subcultured to IAA (2 μM) supplemented medium for another eight weeks, and shoots grown in cytokinin [BA (10 μM) and Kn (5 μM)] and auxin [IAA (2 μM)] based media were analyzed for their biosynthetic potential using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). Chemical fingerprinting and lupeol quantification was carried out to check biosynthetic potential. The fingerprints of the wild and in vitro samples showed similar bands in cytokinin fortified medium whereas variation in chemical constituents was observed in terms of number of peaks and band on HPTLC plate in shoots from auxin fortified medium. Maximum lupeol content (0.187 ± 0.01 mg/g) was estimated in shoots regenerated in BA (10 μM) and Kn (5 μM) which was slightly higher than wild shoots (0.185 ± 0.00 mg/g). This protocol can be utilized for mass propagation, conservation and production of lupeol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]