The Effect of Elisitor on Growth and Ginsenoside Level in Hairy Root Culture of Panax ginseng Cultivated in Shake Flasks

¹ Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Surabaya, Raya Kalirungkut, Surabaya 60293, East Java, Indonesia
² PT.Bintang Toedjoe, Pulomas, Jakarta 13210, Indonesia
³ Graduate School of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Republic of Korea
⁴ Institute of Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering, University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, 25130, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

^* Corresponding author: sukwee@staff.ubaya.ac.id

Abstract

In recent years, plants have become an important part of traditional medicine. Although the medicinal potential of the plant looks very promising, there are great difficulties that inhibit products for the production of herbs on a large scale. Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. is a plant often used in traditional medicine in various countries because ginseng can cure various diseases in humans. The main bioactive component in ginseng is the triterpene saponin compound, namely ginsenosides. Ginseng needs to be cultivated at least 4 yr before the root can be harvested. In addition, a special environment is needed for ginseng to develop properly. One way to obtain ginsenosides is to use root hair culture. However, until now it has been reported that the accumulation of ginsensoside in root hair cultures is still low. Elicitation effective method to increase the production of secondary metabolites in vitro culture. The aim of this research was to observe the effect of elicitor in the form of yeast extract and coconut water to the media on the growth and levels of ginsenoside in flask scale Panax ginseng root hair culture. From the data obtained, it can be concluded that the addition of yeast extract from the start with a concentration of 20 mg L⁻¹ cannot increase the levels of ginsenoside in the hairy root culture of P. ginseng. The addition of coconut water from the beginning with a volume of 10 mL increases the biomass but cannot increase the ginsenoside levels in the hair culture of P. ginseng.