High frequency direct shoot organogenesis of leaf explants and a comparative evaluation of phytochemicals, antioxidant potential of wild vs. in vitro plant extracts of Lysimachia laxa

The present studies were attempted to develop direct shoot organogenesis from in vitro grown leaf explants of Lysimachia laxa and comparative evaluation of phytochemical and antioxidant potential of in vitro raised and wild plants extracts. The fresh leaves of this species are used for deworming gastrointestinal worm infection in traditional medicine. Overexploitation of this species and poor regeneration has led to rapid decline in wild population, therefore, present investigation was attempted to develop an efficient rapid mass propagation protocol for this species. Our result showed significantly (P < 0.05) high adventitious shoot proliferation of 17.21 ± 0.24 number per leaf explants cultured in Murashige and Skoog medium fortified with 1.25 mg L−1 thiadizuron and 1.0 mg L−1 α-naphthalene acetic acid. Further enhancement was achieved through elongation medium fortified with 1.0 mg L−1 6-benzylaminopurine by average shoot number of 31.1 ± 0.80 and length of 5.96 ± 0.13 cm. Murashige and Skoog medium fortified with 0.50 mg L−1 Indole-3-acetic acid showed high rooting induction (100%) with average root number of 11.70 and length 7.35 cm. All rooted plants were successfully acclimatized in greenhouse and transferred to field condition with a survival rate of 97%. The contents of phenolic and flavonoid were higher in in vitro raised plant in compared to wild plant extracts. Antioxidants assay showed high radical scavenging activity of IC50 1.61 ± 0.07 mg dry material and reducing power of 49.79 ± 0.11 mg/g ascorbic acid equivalent by aqueous methanol extracts of in vitro raised 3-months-old plants in compare to the wild plants. The present protocol is a viable option for pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries for sustainable utilization of L. laxa with enhanced of phytochemical and antioxidant potency which is not reported elsewhere.