Antioxidant Potential and Enhancement of Bioactive Metabolite Production in In Vitro Cultures of <i>Scutellaria lateriflora</i> L. by Biotechnological Methods

Studies carried out using three different in vitro assays and a biological setting (<i>Escherichia coil</i>) demonstrated the antioxidant activity of <i>Scutellaria lateriflora</i> microshoot extract. Moreover, the extract exhibited no toxicity in a brine shrimp lethality bioassay. These results indicated that microshoots are a rich, safe source of antioxidants, which encouraged us to enhance their production in vitro. In agar and agitated cultures, two biotechnological strategies were applied: feeding the cultures with the biogenetic precursors of the phenolics—phenylalanine and tyrosine, and eliciting them with methyl jasmonate. Specific <i>Scutellaria</i> flavonoids and verbascoside were analysed by HPLC. Feeding with precursors (1 g/L) in agar cultures decreased the production of the metabolites. In agitated cultures, different concentrations of precursors (1.0–2.5 g/L) and the elicitor (10; 50; 100 µM) were tested. Additionally, parallel feeding with the precursor and elicitor in a concentration of 50 µM were applied. The best strategy for total flavonoid and verbascoside production was phenylalanine feeding (1.5 g/L), max. 3765 and 475 mg/100 g DW, respectively, after 7 days. This is the first report documenting the high antioxidant production in <i>S. lateriflora</i> microshoots after feeding with phenylalanine. Moreover, for the first time, bioreactor cultures were successfully maintained, obtaining attractive results (max. total flavonoid content 2348 and verbascoside 485 mg/100 g DW).