Callus Induction and Elicitation of Total Phenolics in Callus Cell Suspension Culture of Celastrus paniculatus – willd, an Endangered Medicinal Plant in India

Celastrus paniculatus - Willd belonging to the family Celastraceae is a vulnerable medicinal plant in India. It has been employed as a stimulant, nervine tonic, rejuvenant, sedative, tranquilizer and diuretic. It is also used in the treatment of leprosy, leucoderma, rheumatism, gout, paralysis and asthma. Because of its high pharmaceutical application, this plant species were over exploited and now considered under threatened species. So the highlight of the present investigation is the induction of callus by using different concentration of various phytohormones such as 2, 4-D (0.5 - 3.0 mg/l) and NAA (0.5 - 2.5 mg/l). In order to ensure the presence of the bioactive compounds preliminary phytochemical screening of the various extracts of callus were performed. Finally elicitation of total phenolics were done in callus cell suspension cultures by using elicitors such as jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and copper sulphate. Among the applied elicitors jasmonic acid showed superiority. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the elicitation of secondary metabolites especially total phenolics from callus cell suspension cultures of Celastrus Paniculatus.