Picroside I and Picroside II from Tissue Cultures of Picrorhiza kurroa

Background: Picrorhiza kurroa (PK) belongs to Scrophulariaceae family and is a representative endemic, medicinal herb, widely distributed throughout the higher altitudes of alpine Himalayas from west to east, between 3000 and 4500 m above mean sea level. Objective: The objective of the present study is to assess the production of picroside I and picroside II from tissue cultures of PK. Materials and Methods: Auxiliary shoot tips of PK were incubated in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with indole‑3‑butyric acid and kinetin phytohormones. The callus produced was collected at different time intervals and was processed for extraction of picroside I and picroside II followed by thin layer chromatography and high‑performance liquid chromatography HPLC analysis. Results: The maximum growth index was found to be 5.109 ± 0.159 at 16‑week‑old callus culture. The estimation of picroside‑I and picroside‑II was carried out by (HPLC) analysis; quantity of secondary metabolite found to be 16.37 ± 0.0007 mg/g for PK‑I and 6.34 ± 0.0012 mg/g for PK‑II. Conclusion: This is the first attempt to produce the Picroside‑I and II in large amount by the tissue culture technique. It can be observed that the method of callus culture can be used in production of secondary metabolites Picroside‑I and II from PK