Quantitative determination of secoiridoid and xanthone glycosides of Gentiana dinarica Beck cultured in vitro

Gentiana dinarica Beck, native to the Balkan Dinaric Mountains, was established in vitro from axillary shoot buds. It was maintained in the form of shoot cultures on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg l⁻¹ 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg l⁻¹ α-naphthaleneacetic acid and excised root cultures were maintained on ½ MS medium with 0.5 mg l⁻¹ indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Shoot cultures, adventitious roots and excised root cultures were analysed by HPLC techniques for the presence of secoiridoids and xanthones. Gentiopicrin and swertiamarin, the dominant components of shoot cultures, could not be detected in root cultures. Xanthones were present in both shoot and root cultures with norswertianin-1-O-primeveroside as the dominant metabolite. The secoiridoid and xanthone content, although characteristic for certain plant organs, was dependent on the concentration of plant growth regulators (BA and IBA) added to the medium. BA in the shoot multiplication stage strongly increased the secondary metabolite (SEM) content of shoot cultures. IBA had little effect on SEM accumulation in shoots during rooting, while it moderately stimulated SEM accumulation in excised root cultures.