Elicitation of antioxidant metabolites in Musa species in vitro shoot culture using sucrose, temperature and jasmonic acid

In vitro culture is not only known for the mass propagation of medicinal plants, it can also be used to boost the accumulation of useful metabolites. This work was aimed at studying the potential of elicitation on the accumulation of antioxidant secondary metabolites in different Musa species accessions. Shoot cultures of selected six Musa spp. accessions were micropropagated on Murashige and Skoog mineral-based culture medium, supplemented with indole-3-acetic acid and 6-benzylaminopurine. Different temperatures (15, 20 and 26 °C), doses of sucrose (30–50 g/L) and jasmonic acid concentrations (JA, 50–200 µM) were used as elicitors in the culture medium. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with effect-directed analysis (EDA) was used to compare and characterize all the 71 Musa spp. samples from the selected accessions and to reveal compound zones with antioxidant, antidiabetic and anticholinesterase activities. All elicitation and plant tissue culture experiments increased the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the selected Musa spp. accessions. Extracts from plants grown at 20 °C gave the highest TPC and antioxidant activity. Addition of JA (200 µM) and higher sucrose contents (40 g/L or 45 g/L) increased the TPC and antioxidant activity as well. Not only compounds with antioxidant, but also antidiabetic and anticholinesterase activities were detected in the elicited accessions. The system presented in this study could serve as a sustainable, consistent and reliable alternative means of bioactive metabolites supply for the production of biopharmaceuticals. Antioxidant and phenolic content in Musa spp. can be increased by growing Musa shoot cultures at 20 °C, adding sucrose at 40 or 45 g/L and jasmonic acid (200 µM).