Production of daidzein by callus cultures of Psoralea species and comparison with plants

Callus cultures were established from five Psoralea species (Leguminosae) with the objective of producing daidzein (isoflavone). The biomass doubling times ranged from 7 to 16 days according to the species and a 48 weeks period was necessary to obtain lines with stable growth characteristics. All the 217 callus lines were analyzed for their daidzein content using HPLC. Our callus collection showed a large interspecific variation and the highest concentrations were recovered in I! obtusifolia callus lines (maximum of 0.9680% DW). Intraspecific variation was also important and allowed the recovery of high-producing lines (production exceeding 0.3000% DW) with four out of the five Psoralea species studied. The daidzein repartition was investigated in planta with P. cinerea in order to evaluate the potential of in vivo production. Mature fruits were the richest organs for daidzein concentration in fl cinerea and were used as indicators to evaluate the possible production with the other four plant species. In vitro concentrations were always much higher than in planta, and no correlation could be established between the calluses and plants for the five species. Our callus lines contained concentrations comparable to Psoralea hairy root lines. They can be considered as an interesting material to further study the production of daidzein.