Establishment of hairy root cultures and analysis of saponin production in Javanese ginseng (Talinum paniculatum Gaertn.)

The continuous demand for new compounds with important medicinal activities has led to the identification and characterization of various plant-derived natural products. As a part of this program, we report the production of potential pharmaceutical saponin from Talinum paniculatum, widely known as Javanese ginseng. In this research, our results demonstrated the induction of transgenic hairy root lines of T. paniculatum, screening, and selection for saponin production. Two Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains, ATCC 15843 and LBA 9402/12 were used to induce hairy roots following infection of leaf explants from in vitro and ex vitro-grown plants. The effects of bacterial concentration, incubation time, and the presence of acetosyringone were also evaluated respect the efficiency for hairy root induction. Both strains were able to induce hairy roots from leaf explants, but LBA-induced hairy roots showed faster growth rate than ATCC-induced strain. Saponin analysis from hairy root showed that root cultures accumulate higher saponin content compared to non-transgenic roots. Thus, hairy roots are a good material for the production of saponin in T. paniculatum.