Secondary Metabolite Contents in Shoot Cultures of Holy Basil Purple Type (Ocimum sanctum L.)

Abstract

Holy basil purple type (Ocimum sanctum L.) is a medicinal plant commonly used for medicinal purposes. This study aimed to investigate the secondary metabolite contents in shoot cultures of holy basil purple type. Secondary metabolite contents and radical scavenging activities of 3 to 6-week-old shoots cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (BA) were determined and compared with those of mother plant and transplantation plant grown under in vivo conditions. The results showed that the regenerated shoots had higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents, and radical scavenging activities than in vivo leaves. The greatest of total phenolic (152.10±7.94 mg GAE/g dry extract), total flavonoid contents (122.04±3.66 mg CE/g dry extract), and radical scavenging activity (EC₅₀ of 12.95±1.37 μg/ml) were observed in 5-week-old regenerated shoots. However, the eugenol contents from leaves of mother plant l (2,931.17±286.61 μg/g dry extract) and transplantation plant (8,816.18±510.60 μg/g dry extract) were higher than in vitro regenerated shoots.