Qualitative and Quantitative Phytochemical Analysis of Hairy Root Cultures.

Hairy root cultures are genetically and biochemically stable, and they regularly possess the same or better biosynthetic capabilities for specialized (secondary) metabolite production compared to the intact plant. species are well-known herbal remedies in ethnopharmacology and rich sources of isoflavonoids. Besides isoflavones, less prevalent isoflavones and pterocarpans with valuable biological effects can be found in species as well. As these plants are only collected but not cultivated, biotechnological methods could play a role in the larger-scale extraction of isoflavonoids. Regarding this information, we aimed to establish and hairy root cultures (HRCs) and analyze the isoflavonoid profile of hairy root cultures qualitatively and quantitatively, in order to define their capacity to produce biologically valuable isoflavonoids. During the qualitative description, beside isoflavonoids, two new phenolic lactones, namely, bulatlactone 2″--β-D-glucoside and ononilactone, were isolated, and their structures were characterized for the first time. Altogether, 29 compounds were identified by the means of UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS. Based on UHPLC-UV-DAD measurements, the isoflavonoid spectrum of the HRCs differed markedly from wild-grown samples, as they produce a limited range of the scaffolds. The most abundant compounds in the HRCs were medicarpin glucoside and sativanone glucoside. The overall isoflavonoid production of the cultures was comparable to wild-grown and approximately twice as high as in wild-grown samples. As the overall content of wild-grown samples include more isoflavonoid derivatives, the HRCs contain structurally less divergent isoflavonoids but in higher quantity.