Enhanced synthesis of andrographolide by Aspergillus niger and Penicillium expansum elicitors in cell suspension culture of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees

BACKGROUND: Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees is an important medicinal plant which has enormous applications in pharmaceutical industries. Cell suspension culture of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees. was treated with Aspergillus niger and Penicillium expansum elicitors to enhance the synthesis of andrographolide, the bioactive constituent of A. paniculata. RESULT: The elicitation treatment with fungal elicitors (A. niger and P. expansum) was observed to be most suitable for eliciting andrographolide production in the culture. The quantification of andrographolide was done using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) technique. A. niger extract (1.5 ml with10 days treatment duration) revealed 6.94 fold increase in andrographolide content (132 μg) which was higher than the control (19 μg). P. expansum elicitor (0.6% with 8 days treatment duration) could reveal 6.23 fold enhancement in andrographolide content (81.0 μg) over control (13 μg). CONCLUSION: The results obtained reveal that the longer treatment duration is most favorable for the elicitation of andrographolide using both the fungal elicitors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1999-3110-54-49) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.