The Journal of Indian Botanical Society

Trigonella foenum-graecum L is an annual forage legume and a traditional spice crop that has been grown for centuries across the Indian subcontinent which is rare and extensively used in traditional systems of medicine. Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by chronic elevation of glucose in the blood. It arises because the body is unable to produce enough insulin for its own needs, either because of impaired insulin secretion, impaired insulin action, or both insulin resistance and insulin deficiency. Secondary to pancreatic beta-cell failure the world as the best remedy for the diabetes has been taken in the present investigation for the study of secondary products produced in tissue culture. For callus induction the cotyledonary explants from 8-week old seedlings were excised. These explants were inoculated to MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of (0.5–2.5 mg/L) of auxins such as 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2, 4-D), Indole 3-acetic acid (IAA), Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Callus was harvested after 3 weeks, dried and analysed for steroids and glycol alkaloids. All analytical and preparative thin layer Chromatography (TLC) methods were performed with chloroform and methanol (99: 1) solvent using silica gel G Plates. Spots corresponding to reference diosgenin and β-Sitosterol were marked by exposing the plates to iodine vapors. The corresponding zones were collected, eluted with chloroform, tested on TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) and later crystallized. The potentialities of the cell cultures of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. producing steroidal compounds of pharmaceutical importance, have been worked out in the laboratory. Arelationship of the relative synthesis of steroidal compounds and their kinetics has been established. Incorporation of cholesterol, various growth regulators and nitrogenous sources individually into the medium has been investigated and enumerated establishing the synthesis of the secondary products in callus of T. foenum-graecum in in vitro cultures.

Several strategies have been adopted for the enhancement of bioactive metabolite production in in vitro cultures; one of them is using growth regulators which are often a crucial factor in secondary product accumulation. The type and concentration of auxin or cytokinin or the auxin/cytokinin ratio may alter dramatically both the growth and the product formation in cultured plant cells. Therefore, it is of great interest to evaluate the antidiabetic activity and steroid compounds of T.foenum graecum callus