Enhanced Synthesis of Curculigoside by Stress and Amino Acids in Static Culture of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn (Kali Musli)

Background: Curculigo orchioides Gaertn (Kali musli; Family: Hypoxidaceae) is an endangered medicinal plant used for many medicinal purposes such as impotency, aphrodisiac, tonic, jaundice, and skin ailments. Its hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and anti‑cancerous potential have also been evaluated by many scientists. Objective: The objective of this study is to enhance the curculigoside content in tissue culture of C. orchioides. Materials and Methods: The present study deals with the enhancement of an active compound of C. orchioides by incorporating various concentration of phenylalanine (Phe), tyrosine, (20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/100 ml), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ppm) into Zenk media in controlled and aseptic conditions. Results: Plant secondary metabolites are unique sources for pharmaceuticals, food additives, flavors, and industrially important biochemicals. Accumulation of such metabolites often occurs in plants subjected to stresses including various elicitors or signal molecules. A significantly remarkable enhancement in all induced samples was noted. Curculigoside content was maximum in the 6‑week‑old tissue induced with 3 ppm of Cr (7.63%) followed by 4 weeks tissue of tissue fed with 4 ppm of Ni (5.66%) and 4‑week‑old tissue fed with tyrosine 7.5 mg/100 ml (2.38%) among all samples used. These results suggest that tyrosine is better enhancer than Phe in the biosynthetic pathway of curculigoside. The presence of curculigoside in all extracts was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high‑performance thin layer chromatography analysis with standard compound of curculigoside and histology of treated samples. Conclusion: This investigation was carried out for the 1st time, and it is a significant step in understanding the biochemistry of curculigoside. The developed protocol will be beneficial for marketing in pharmaceutical industries.