Cell Suspension Culture and Secondary Metabolites Production in African Violet (Saintpaulia ionantha Wendl.)

Initiation of cell suspension culture of African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha Wendl.) was studied by inoculating fresh friable fragments of callus on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different levels of N6-benzyladenine (BA) (4.4, 8.9 or 13.3 μM), kinetin (0.5, 1.4 or 2.3 μM), and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (2.2, 4.4 or 6.6 μM), or different concentrations and ratios of NH4 +:NO3 - (30:0, 10:20, 20:10, 0:30) or (0:60, 20:40, 40:20, and 60:0) along with control treatment. The highest cell growth (20.5 mg/ml) was obtained on medium containing 2.3 μM kinetin. Adding 0.54 μM 1-Naphthaleneacetic Acid (NAA) to all growth regulators combinations at certain concentrations resulted in better cell growth compared to those combinations lacking NAA. Using 30 mM total nitrogen at low NH4 +:NO3 - ratio resulted in the best cell growth. The secondary metabolite, cyanidin, was identified in the leaves of in vivo and in vitro grown S. ionantha microshoots. Cyanidin content for in vivo and in vitro extracts was 98.16 and 85.04 mg/g dry tissue, respectively. On the other hand, no cyanidin was detected in cell suspension culture