Production of Anthocyanins in Callus Cultures of Angelica archangelica

Anthocyanins have been used as food color additives, but they also possess many properties beneficial to health. Plant tissue culture technology is an attractive alternative for obtaining these valuable natural pigments. In this work, dark-grown anthocyanin producing callus cultures of Angelica archangelica were established. They were cultured on a Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 0.4 mg/L benzylaminopurine. Anthocyanin contents in cultures were around 2%, i.e. one order of magnitude higher than in the intact plant that contains up to 0.17% anthocyanins. Growth and production characteristics of the culture were determined – fresh and dry biomass as well as anthocyanin levels reached a maximum on day 30. Effects of basal nutrient media on callus proliferation and anthocyanin accumulation were tested. Culture growth (fresh weight) achieved 105%, 102%, 141%, 129%, 54%, and 26%, and anthocyanin contents attained 114%, 41%, 33%, 31%, 25%, and 15% on Linsmaier and Skoog, Gamborg B5, Schenk and Hildebrandt, Woody plant, Nitsch and Nitsch, and Heller medium, respectively, in comparison with that of Murashige and Skoog.