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Biotransformation of hydroquinone to arbutin in plant in vitro cultures — preliminary results

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Abstract

Cells from Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. (Asteraceae), Exacum affine Balf. f. (Gentianaceae), Melittis melissophyllum L. (Lamiaceae), Ruta graveolens L. and Ruta graveolens ssp. divaricata (Tenore) Gams. (Rutaceae) agitating cultures perform a biotransformation reaction on exogenously supplied hydroquinone into its β-D-glucoside — arbutin, product with valuable medicinal and cosmetic properties. The maximum content of arbutin (determined by HPLC) in the biomass from investigated cultures is 4.01; 3.44; 1.79; 2.48 and 5.07 g/100 g d.w., respectively. Nothing but Ammi majus L. (Apiaceae) cultures contain trace amounts of the product. Arbutin is accumulated in cells; it is occasionally found in media only in vestigial amounts. In most of the investigated cultures the efficiency of the biotransformation process is about 60 %.

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Abbreviations

BAP:

6-benzylaminopurine; biomass-shoots, differentiated callus, undifferentiated callus or cell aggregates from suspension

d.w.:

dry weight

GA3 :

gibberellic acid

HPLC:

high performance liquid chromatography

LS:

medium of Linsmaier and Skoog, 1965

MS:

medium of Murashige and Skoog, 1962

NAA:

α-naphthaleneacetic acid

PLC:

preparative layer chromatography

s.m.:

sucha masa

TLC:

thin layer chromatography

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, 9 Medyczna Street, 30-688, Kraków, Poland

    Ewa Skrzypczak-Pietraszek, Agnieszka Szewczyk, Agata Piekoszewska & Halina Ekiert

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  1. Ewa Skrzypczak-Pietraszek
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  2. Agnieszka Szewczyk
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  3. Agata Piekoszewska
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  4. Halina Ekiert
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Skrzypczak-Pietraszek, E., Szewczyk, A., Piekoszewska, A. et al. Biotransformation of hydroquinone to arbutin in plant in vitro cultures — preliminary results. Acta Physiol Plant 27, 79–87 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-005-0039-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-005-0039-x

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