Abstract

Callus cultures were initiated from nodal segments and leaf explants ofGymnema sylvestre on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium containing basic salts and 30 g/l sucrose supplemented with different concentrations (0.10, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 5.0 mg/l) of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), kinetin (KN) and 6-benzyladenine (BA). Callus induction was observed in 0.5 mg/l of 2, 4-D supplemented medium for both explants. At the initial stage, some parts of explants enlarged and gave raise to pale yellowish calli after 2-3 weeks of incubation. The harvested cell biomass was subjected to extraction of active principles. In this study, cell biomass extracts were compared with extracts from leaves of naturally growing gymnema plants. HPLC analysis of these extracts showed that the main components of the active principles namely gymnemic acids and gymnemagenin were present in sufficiently large amounts in the cultured undifferentiated cells.

Key words: Gymnema sylvestre, antidiabetic compounds, gymnemic acids, callus, cell culture.