Effects of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) on Growth and Quercitrin Content of Shoot Cultures of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat cv. Yulimar

Chrysanthemum morifolium consisted of secondary metabolites such as kaempferol, luteolin, quercitrin, quercetin, and morin. The potential alternative method to increase the production of secondary metabolites in vitro is to grow shoots cultures in growth medium supplemented with Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) as an elicitor. The aim of this research was to obtain the best PEG concentration which can produce the highest quercitrin content in chrysanthemum shoots culture. The experiment consisted of the five concentrations of PEG 6000 namely 0 ppm, 10 ppm, 20 ppm, 30 ppm, and 40 ppm added to Murashige and Skoog (MS) media. Data was taken after 45 days after of culture. The parameters observed were the height of shoots, the number of leaves, dry weight of micro-shoots, and quercitrin content analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The result showed that 10 ppm PEG concentration addition produce the highest shoots height, dry weight of micro-shoots and content of quercitrin were 8.99 cm; 0.1373 grams; and 0.02749 mg/g DW respectively. The growth of Chrysanthemum was directly proportional to quercitrin content. Quercitrin content in Chrysanthemum shoots cultures decreases with increasing PEG concentrationin medium.