In Vitro Production of Cucurbitacins From Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of growth regulators in callus induction, increase of biomass and to the yield more of cucurbitacin and cucurbitacin-E in leaf explants of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina. The explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of auxins like 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), [alpha]-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), Indole butyric acid (IBA), Indole acetic acid (IAA), cytokinins like Kinetin (kn) and Benzyl adenine (BA). The different concentrations and combinations of BAP + IBA, 2, 4-D + BAP and 2, 4-D + kn increased the callus of fresh weight and dry weight. Among all concentrations and combinations, the best results revealed that leaf-derived callus cultured on 2,4-D (3.0mg-l) + kin (1.0 mg-l) produced the highest total cucurbitacins content with an optimum yield 4.9% w/w and cucurbitacin-E 2.75% w/w at third week.