Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF STEROLS EXTRACTED FROM CICHORIUM INTYBUS IN VIVO AND IN VITRO

Meena Agarwal*, Renu Sarin

ABSTRACT

Context: Natural habitats for medicinal plant are disappearing fast and together With environmental instabilities, it is increasingly difficult to acquire plant derived compounds. This has prompted scientists to consider the possibilities of using cell cultures as an alternative supply for the production of plant natural products. Aim: The present investigation deals with the establishment of callus cultures from nodal explants of Cichorium intybus, to extract sterols from the raised callus and plant parts. Materials and Methods: Callus culture of Cichorium intybus has been established on Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with BAP using nodal explants. Growth index (GI) was calculated for the tissues obtained after 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks, respectively. Calli of 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks age and plant parts were used for extraction of sterols using standard method. Results: GI was found maximum in 6 weeks old tissue (5.12).Stigmasterol and β-sitosterol was identified from 6 week old callus and plant parts through, thin layer chromatography (TLC), preparative TLC, Melting point and Infrared spectral and GC-MS studies. Content of Stigmasterol and β-sitosterol in 6 week old calli and plant parts was also estimated using standard Spectrophotometric method. Conclusion: The protocol of callus induction of C.intybus opens new vistas that could facilitate phytochemical production, extraction of pharmaceuticals and their screening against different human pathogens from the callus without harvesting the plant itself.

Keywords: ?-sitosterol , GC-MS ,Growth indices, stigmasterol, Tissue culture,TLC.