Isolation and Identification of the Phenols of Paul's Scarlet Rose Stems and Stem-Derived Suspension Cultures

The phenols of Paul's Scarlet rose stems and stem-derived cell cultures have been analyzed using C₁₈-reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography.

Rose stems were found to contain gallic acid, (+)catechin, (−)epicatechin, the dimers (−)epicatechin-(+)catechin and (+)catechin-(+)catechin, a polymeric procyanidin, ferulic acid, and several gallotannins. In contrast, a cell suspension of Paul's Scarlet rose which has been maintained in culture for over 25 years contained only low levels of gallic acid and (−)epicatechin-(+)catechin. The phenol content of a second rose cell line which was started from the same initial isolate in 1957, but which was maintained in a laboratory other than our own was quantitatively and qualitatively similar to the cell line kept in our laboratory for the last 20 years. A third cell line which we started 6 months ago contained a wide variety of phenols, most of which were in common with those of rose stems.

Selective subculturing of smaller cell clumps of our oldest cell line failed to enhance either the quantities or the diversity of phenols which accumulated in these cultured cells. Possible reasons for the failure of selective subculturing to enhance phenol levels in this long-established cell line are discussed.