Abstract

Javanese ginseng (Talinum paniculatum) is an herb and one of the traditional medicinal plants in Indonesia which accumulate saponin in the root organ. However, slow root growth hampers the accumulation of the compound in this plant. Therefore, in vitro culture of adventitious roots offers an alternative way to increase the production of saponin. Furthermore, this study was performed to investigate the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA) on the growth and saponin content in adventitious root of Javanese ginseng. Adventitious root culture was induced on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented by 10 µM IBA (indole-3-butyric acid). Subsequently, adventitious roots were subcultured into a half strength MS liquid medium with the addition of different concentrations of MeJA or SA and incubated for 5, 10 and 15 days. Despite inhibition on the root growth, saponin production increased by 1.5 and 1.3 fold upon elicitation with 0.2 mM MeJA and SA for 15 days, respectively. Thus, MeJA and SA elicitations regulate saponin biosynthesis in adventitious root culture of Javanese ginseng as a time and dose-dependent manner.

Key words: Adventitious root, elicitation, Javanese ginseng, saponin, Talinum paniculatum.