Improved gymnemic acid production in the suspension cultures of Gymnema sylvestre through biotic elicitation

Enhancement of secondary metabolite accumulation in cultured plant cells through biotic and abiotic elicitation has been recognised as an important biotechnological strategy. Gymnema sylvestre is a rich source of triterpenoid saponins—gymnemic acids used mainly in the treatment of diabetes I and II. The cell suspension cultures initiated from the leaves and stalks of in vitro-grown plantlets have shown to accumulate large amounts of gymnemic acid. The cell-free extracts of Aspergillus niger, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Agrobacterium rhizogenes, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli were employed as sources of biotic elicitors to study the effect on secondary metabolite production. All the elicitors have shown a positive response in terms of gymnemic acid, with the highest response induced by A. niger 98.65 ± 0.93 mg/gram dry cell weight (gDCW)], 11.2-fold, and the lowest by E. coli (33.25 ± 1.38 mg/gDCW), 3.8-fold, in comparison to the untreated cultures (8.79 ± 0.82 mg/gDCW). The suspension cultures of G. sylvestre can serve as a continuous source of gymnemic acids throughout the year, irrespective of the climatic and geographical barriers.