Co-culturing of Catharanthus roseus, Vinca major and Rauwolfia serpentina cell suspensions in shake flask and bioreactor: Production of a novel alkaloid with antioxidant potential

摘要

Conditions for co-culturing the cell suspensions of?Catharanthus roseus,?Rauwolfia serpentina?and?Vinca major?in shake flask and bioreactor are described here for the possible complementation of the terpenoid indole alkaloid pathway operating in them. Catharanthus + Rauwolfia or Catharanthus + Vinca cell combinations could be reared on a Murashige and Skoog medium containing 2.0 mg L-1?naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 0.2 mg L-1?kinetin (Kn). A 20- and 40-fold increment in the biomass of these co-cultures was achieved within 30 days in a stirred tank bioreactor. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) of the alkaloid extracts of co-cultures of Rauwolfia + Catharanthus showed the presence of two novel compounds (RF1 and RF2) upon staining with Dragendroff’s reagent. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance?(1HNMR), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and ultraviolet (UV) spectral analysis data of these compounds suggested an indole alkaloid identity. Out of these two alkaloids, compound RF1 was found to possess strong antioxidant potential.