Astragaloside IV and cycloastragenol production in in vitro produced Astragalus trojanus Stev.

In the present paper, an efficient method for clonal propagation of an endemic plant, Astragalus trojanus Stev., was described. Effect of sucrose and 6-benzyladenine (BA) concentrations on shoot proliferation and rooting was studied. Woody plant medium (WPM) supplemented with two different concentrations of BA (S1 medium with 0.5 mg/L BA & S2 medium with 1 mg/L BA) was used, where S2 medium resulted in higher rates in both shoot elongation and multiple shoot proliferation of clonally propagated A. trojanus shoot cultures. Of 27 clones, 3 were selected for further studies based on the highest regeneration capacity (Clones 1, 12 & 15). A total of 340 shoots were obtained from Clone 1 in S1 medium. In this medium, the rooting ratio of shoots for Clone 15 was 11.67%. The highest shoot elongation (1.99 cm), multiple shoot proliferation ratio (4.35) and multiple shoot proliferation percentage (91.67%) were obtained from Clone 1 in S2 medium. Two media, WPM medium supplemented with 15 g/L (K1 medium) and 30 g/L (K2 medium) sucrose were used for rooting. The root formation of Clone 1 was 26.67% in K2 medium. The highest astragaloside IV (0.5486 mu g/mg) and cycloastragenol (0.1263 mu g/mg) contents were detected in roots grown in K1 medium.