Increased Ginsenosides Production by Elicitation of In vitro Cultivated Panax Ginseng Adventitious Roots

Ginsenosides, which belong to group of triterpenoid saponins, are considered to be main constituents responsible for the biological effects of ginseng drug. Effect of organic and inorganic elicitors and other additives on the ginsenoside biosynthesis and biomass production by the in vitro cultivated adventitious root cultures of Korean ginseng was investigated in present study. Elicitation potential of natural mixtures (coconut water, pineapple extract, casein hydrolyzate, yeast extract, malt extract), organic elicitors (putrescine, spermidine, spermine, jasmonic acid), inorganic ions (calcium) and their complexes with organic acids (titanium ascorbate, titanium citrate) was tested. Changes in concentration of 9 main ginsenosides (Re, Rg1 , Rf, Rg2 , Rb1 , Rb2 , Rc, Rg3 and Rd) were monitored using HPLC-PDA and LC/MS/MS techniques. Jasmonic acid was the most effective elicitor of ginsenoside production (about 3.5 mg/g of DW in comparison with 1.4 mg/g of DW in control); however, its application (similar to spermine) was followed with significant reduction of the biomass growth. Among tested additives, casein hydrolyzate showed the highest increase of the ginsenoside content (2.2 mg/g DW) together with no effect on the growth of the culture. Both tested titanium complexes showed slight inhibition of the saponin accumulation in comparison with untreated control.