The effect of triacontanol on shoot multiplication and production of antioxidant compounds in shoot cultures of Salvia officinalis L.

This report describes the effect of triacontanol on shoot multiplication and production of antioxidant compounds (carnosic acid, carnosol and rosmarinic acid) in S. officinalis cultures grown on MS basal medium (agar solidified medium supplemented with 0.1 mg l-1 IAA, 0.45 mg l-1 BAP). It was found that shoot proliferation significantly increased when triacontanol at concentrations of 5, 10 or 20 µg l-1 was added to the medium. HPLC analysis of acetone and methanolic extracts of sage shoots showed that the production of diterpenoids, carnosic acid/carnosol ratio, as well as, contents of rosmarinic acid were also affected by the treatment with triacontanol. The highest stimulation effect of triacontanol was observed on the production of carnosol, where the treatment with 20 µg l l-1 increased the content of this diterpenoid 4.5-fold compared to that in the control (sage shoots growing on MS basal medium, only).