Evaluation of in vitro mucilage and lepidine biosynthesis in different genotypes of Lepidium sativum Linn originated from Iran.

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) is considered as a medicinal plant with various applications in pharmaceutical and food industries. Mucilage and lepidine as the most secondary metabolites in garden cress were optimized by callus culture. Firstly, the callus was induced under the treatment of 2, 4-D (1 mg l−1) + BAP (2 mg l−1). Then, in vitro synthesis of mucilage and lepidine from the callus and seeds of 10 different garden cress genotypes were evaluated under two different of light conditions (light and darkness). The in vitro synthesis of mucilage and lipidine from callus samples showed higher efficiency in most Iranian genotypes by about two-fold increase compared with one in the seed and leaf tissues respectively. L.s(4) and L.s(9) genotypes with 246.7 and 73.8 mg g−1 Dw had the highest and lowest contents of mucilage in callus tissue. The content of lepidine in L.s(6) (12.16 g g−1Dw) and L.s(5) (1.05 g g−1Dw) genotypes showed the highest and lowest content compared to those of callus. The findings of this research can be applied to high-throughput production of mucilage and lepidine using in vitro callus culture in Lepidium sativum. • In the present study, in vitro production of mucilage and lepidine from callus culture of ten native garden cress genotypes were investigated and compared with those in the seed and leave respectively. • The mucilage of callus was significantly higher (two-fold) than the mucilage of seed. This finding could be applicable of traditional extraction of mucilage from callus in L. sativum in a shorter time and huge scale. • Lepidine content in callus of most studied L. sativum genotypes was about three times higher than that of the leaves. • Due to higher quantity and efficiency of in vitro production of the plant secondary metabolite, the superior genotypes suggested to be used in bioreactor systems for commercial production of mucilage and lepidine for pharmaceutical and food aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]