Effect of abiotic elicitor methyl jasmonate on production of rutin in callus cultures of Abutilon hirtum L.

A significant therapeutic plant from the Malvaceae family is Abutilon hirtum (L.). It is frequently used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of illnesses. Rutin is a flavonoid molecule with commercial value that has anticancer, nutritional, and anti-ageing properties. This research project was carried out to evaluate the effect of abiotic elicitor Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) at concentrations 0.0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 mmol.L-1 on accumulation of rutin by callus cultures  of  Abutilon hirtum L. after 30 days of growth on  Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium to which 2000 µg.L-1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) + 500 µg.L-1 Kinetin (Kin) were added. The results showed that the best callus stems cultivated on MS growth medium fortified with 2000 µg.L-1 2,4-D + 500 µg.L-1 Kin, recorded the highest fresh weight of 2.887 g after four weeks. This induced callus was characterized by its friable texture. The data of rutin detection in cultures of callus obtained from stems explant of A. hirtum L., using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) indicated the presence of rutin in these cultures by comparison with the rutin standard samples containing a precisely known concentration of a substance for use in quantitative analysis.. Treatment with 0.03 mmol.L-1 of Methyl Jasmonate gave the best rutin amount of 5.606 mg.g-1 was much higher than the control treatment of 1.569 mg.g-1. These data clearly indicated that callus cultures are a potential continuous and constant source of rutin, as a secondary metabolite, and as an alternative to field plants.