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Essential oil production in shoot cultures versus field-grown plants of Thymus caespititius

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Abstract

Thymus caespititius Brot. is an important aromatic species, due to synthesis and production of essential oils for the pharmaceutical and food industries. In the present study, levels of essential oils from two chemotypes, including carvacrol/thymol (CT) and sabinene/carvacrol (SC), were evaluated in proliferating shoot cultures (6–12 subcultures following establishment) and compared to those from field-grown plants. The essential oils were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Cultures grown under in vitro culture conditions, evaluated over six subcultures, were found to maintain stable composition of essential oils. For the CT chemotype, carvacrol (42 %) and thymol (23 %) were the main essential oil components detected in field-grown plants; in proliferating shoot cultures the levels detected attained 17–25 % in the case of carvacrol and 18–23 % in that of thymol, closely followed by carvacryl acetate (15–23 %) and thymyl acetate (11–15 %). For the SC chemotype, carvacrol (13–28 %), sabinene (18–45 %), and thymol (9–12 %) were the main essential oil components detected in both field-grown and proliferating shoot cultures. Our experiments showed that the essential oil composition in proliferating shoot cultures was not only stable, but also qualitatively similar to that of field-grown plants, notwithstanding minor quantitative differences.

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Abbreviations

BA:

6-Benzyladenine

fw:

Fresh weight

IBA:

Indole-3-butyric acid

GA:

Glutaraldehyde

GC:

Gas chromatography

GC–MS:

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), under research contract PTDC/AGR-GPL/101334/2008 and through grant PEst-OE/EQB/LA0004/2011. Marta D. Mendes is grateful to FCT for PhD grant SFRH/BD/60244/2009. The authors would like to thank Prof. Kiril Bahcevandziev (ESAC) for maintaining the plants in the pots.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, Centro de Biotecnologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biotecnologia e Bioengenharia, Universidade de Lisboa, C2, Piso 1, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Marta D. Mendes, A. Cristina Figueiredo & Helena Trindade

  2. Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB-UNL), Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal

    M. Margarida Oliveira

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  1. Marta D. Mendes
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  2. A. Cristina Figueiredo
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  3. M. Margarida Oliveira
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  4. Helena Trindade
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Correspondence to Helena Trindade.

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Mendes, M.D., Cristina Figueiredo, A., Margarida Oliveira, M. et al. Essential oil production in shoot cultures versus field-grown plants of Thymus caespititius . Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 113, 341–351 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-012-0276-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-012-0276-9

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