REGENERATIVE POTENTIAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL DIVERSITY AMONG FIVE ACCESSIONS OF BACOPA MONNIERI (L.) WETTST

Distant geographical niches have shown pronounced effect on variability in organoleptic characteristics as well as biochemical constituents between accessions of a given plant species. The present study has been designed to evaluate the regenerative potential of five accessions of Bacopa monnieri, a herb which is of high commercial potential with a legendary reputation as a memory vitalizer through morphogenetic, phytochemical and Liquid chromatography- Electrospray ionization-Mass spectra (LC-ESI-MS) analysis. Culture media supplemented with exogenous plant hormones had a varied effect on in vitro culture morphogenesis and biomass production in the accessions. Maximum friable callus was regenerated in accession BM003 (GI: 54.61 ± 0.11) on B5 media supplemented with 2,4-D (1.0 mg l -1 ) while MS media with NAA (1.0 mg l -1 ) + BAP (0.5 mg l -1 ) resulted in maximum indirect organogenesis in BM003 (GI: 99.58 ± 0.06). Biochemical profiling proved the qualitative differences in the carbohydrate, alkaloid, saponin and terpenoid contents in leaf, shoot and root samples of all accessions. LC-ESI-MS analysis revealed that the shoot extract of accession BM002 (7236.38 µg gm -1 ) contains highest Bacoside content as compared to that of its root extract (1015.32 µg gm -1 ) and the shoots