Elevated antioxidant potential of chlorocholine chloride-treated in vitro grown Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

Medicinal plants contain a plethora of secondary metabolites, most of which are bioactive in nature. The role of a popular plant growth retardant CCC has been investigated to explore its impact on secondary metabolite production, particularly phenols and flavonoids from in vitro grown Stevia rebaudiana. CCC stimulated the production of total phenols and flavonoids in calli and leaves. Moreover, this elevated level of phenols and flavonoids was correlated with the antioxidant potential of the tissue extracts. Methanolic extracts from CCC-treated calli and leaves showed significant increment in antioxidant activity as determined by standard DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays. No significant antiproliferative effect of methanolic extracts from different tissue was noticed against THP-1 monocyte (ATCC-TIB202), Hela cell (ATCC-CCL2) lines endorses the issue of clinical safety of the extracts.