Production of Arbutin by Biotransformation of Hydroquinone Using Peganum harmala, Varthemia persica and Pycnocycla spinosa Cell Suspension Cultures

Abstract

Cell cultures of <em>Varthemia persica, Peganum harmala</em> and <em>Pycnocycla spinosa</em> have been studied to evaluate their abilities to bioconvert exogenous hydroquinone. Arbutin is an important substance that has several pharmaceutical applications; therefore, we have established <em>V. persica</em> and <em>P. spinosa</em> cultures which seem to be able to metabolize hydroquinone. Callus cultures of <em>V. persica</em> were established from seedlings, and healthy suspensions were grown using Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2,4-D and kinetin. Exogenous hydroquinone was fed to cell suspension cultures and biotransformation reactions were detected over 24 h of incubation. The cultures then extracted with methanol and extracts subjected to TLC and HPLC analysis. The <em>V. persica</em> and <em>P. spinosa</em> cultured cells in this study seem to exhibit an ability in the glucosylation of hydroquinone to arbutin. No conversion was observed with <em>P. harmala</em> cell suspension cultures. The ability of cultured plant cells for biotransformation of substrates appears to be depended on the culture strains.