Abstract:
Podophyllotoxin has to be isolated from wild growing Podophyllum and Linum species, some of which are considered as endangered. The objective of this study is to establish cell cultures in vitro from Linum ucrainicum – an endemic rare plant species belong to the Section Syllinum, and to determine the lignan content in order to find alternative approach for production of podophyllotoxin.
We have established several callus, suspension and shoot cultures and checked for the occurrence of lignans. Ariltetralin lignans 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin (6MPTOX) and podophyllotoxin (PTOX) were identified in the cultures as main lignans. The both compounds, isolated for the first time from the in vitro cultures of this plant were identified by HPLC. The content of PTOX was 0.300 ± 0.029mg/g DW and 6MPTOX was 2.026 ± 0.804 mg/g DW. The results of the study indicate that in vitro cultures of L. ucrainicum can serve as an alternative way of production of ariltetraline lignans.