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Monitoring accumulation of bioactive compounds in seeds and cell culture of Theobroma cacao at different stages of development

  • Plant Physiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

In recent years, polyphenols from Theobroma cacao and other plant sources have been widely used as natural chemopreventive agents due to their antioxidant properties. Some studies indicate that the polyphenol content, particularly flavan-3-ols, is strongly correlated to the intensity of the purple color in fresh cocoa seeds. However, no visual marker of polyphenol synthesis has been reported in this plant species. The purposes of this study were to monitor the production of certain flavan-3-ols and methylxanthines by chemical and histological analysis in three ecotypes of cacao grown in Colombia at three developmental stages and to compare the result to a standard of polyphenol production over time for two T. cacao cell lines grown in vitro. According to the observations made, polyphenols are stored exclusively in polyphenolic cells that are randomly located between cells that form cotyledon tissue and their biosynthesis is directly proportional to the seed age. Polyphenols are accumulated in the cytoplasm of this kind of cells, which is moved to the protoplasm, coating the cytoplasmic membrane, possibly due to the growth of the vacuole during maturation. In cell culture, polyphenol accumulation is also associated with a particular cell type that is immersed in a group of non-polyphenolic cells. However, it is only possible to identify these cells using destructive staining techniques, which do not allow application of this separation method for obtaining homogenous cell lines. Despite this finding, in this study, it was possible to identify a macroscopic color marker of populations that are rich in dark beige polyphenols, which could be used to screen cell populations.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the University of Antioquia, Compañía Nacional de Chocolates and Colciencias, for technical and financial support of project 1115-502-27756, contract number 718-2011, and the Sustainability Division of the Committee for Development Research (CODI)—University of Antioquia (Sustainability Strategy 2013-2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo Biotecnología—Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, AA 1226, Medellín, Colombia

    Luisa F. Rojas

  2. Grupo de Biotecnología, Universidad de Antioquia, AA 1226, Medellín, Colombia

    Adriana Gallego & Lucía Atehortúa

  3. Grupo de Investigación en Sustancias Bioactivas (GISB), Universidad de Antioquia, AA 1226, Medellín, Colombia

    Andrés Gil

  4. Grupo de Investigación en Ingeniería de Alimentos (GRIAL), Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, Carrera 51 # 118 Sur-57, Caldas, Antioquia, Colombia

    Julián Londoño

Authors
  1. Luisa F. Rojas
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  2. Adriana Gallego
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  3. Andrés Gil
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  4. Julián Londoño
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  5. Lucía Atehortúa
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Correspondence to Luisa F. Rojas.

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Editor: J. Forster

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Rojas, L.F., Gallego, A., Gil, A. et al. Monitoring accumulation of bioactive compounds in seeds and cell culture of Theobroma cacao at different stages of development. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 51, 174–184 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-015-9684-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-015-9684-y

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