Spectral quality as an elicitor of bioactive compound production in Solanum aculeatissimum JACQ cell suspension

Abstract Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. is a common plant in much of Brazil. Despite containing metabolites with a wide range of pharmacological applications, there are few tissue culture reports for this plant. The possibility of large-scale in vitro production of this material has significant biotechnological potential. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of light conditions on the growth of cells in suspension, observing the production and yield of biomass and bioactive compounds and the enzymatic behavior. Calli obtained from leaf segments were cultured in solid medium supplemented with 1 mg L−1 of 2,4-D, 2.5 mg L−1 kinetin, pH 5.7, in the dark. After 110 days of subculture, the calli were transferred to liquid medium. Cells were kept in the dark under agitation at 110 rpm and 25 °C and subcultured every 30 days. After 90 days of culture, 20 mL aliquots of cell suspension were added to flasks containing approximately 20 mL of medium (1:1) and cultured at different wavelengths (white, green, blue, red, and blue/red) under a photoperiod of 16 h with irradiance of 50 μmol m−2 s−1) and in the absence of light. The experiment was performed in a 6 × 6 factorial design (light condition × culture time). The cell cultures showed viability throughout the entire cycle, and chlorogenic and ferulic acids, orientin, quercitrin and, in higher amounts, quercetin, were detected in the first 7 days of culture. There was an increase in superoxide dismutase and catalase and a decrease in ascorbate peroxidase after exposure to different light conditions; for phenylalanine ammonia lyase, no differences were observed. The different light conditions were not sufficient to trigger responses in the concentrations of bioactive compounds, despite the detection of increased levels of the enzymes involved in cellular homeostasis.