The importance of applied light quality on the production of lignans and phenolic acids in Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. cultures in vitro

Shoot-differentiating callus cultures of Schisandra chinensis were cultivated under different spectral properties of monochromatic light (far-red, red, blue, UV-A), and in darkness and under white light (control conditions). The applied lighting conditions influenced biomass growth and the accumulation of secondary metabolites—dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans (fourteen compounds) and phenolic acids (seven compounds). Total amounts of the estimated metabolites increased 1.71 and 1.98 times, respectively, depending on light quality. Blue light was found to be the most effective lighting to the production of both groups of compounds. Their total amounts reached the maximum values of 376.41 mg/100 g DW and 46.57 mg/100 g DW, and were correspondingly 1.31 and 1.37 times greater than under white light. The amounts of individual compounds from the tested groups increased from 1.51 to 3.38 times (lignans), and from 1.74 to 2.72 times (phenolic acids), depending on the lighting conditions. The main bioactive compounds obtained in high amounts were: schisandrin (67.70 mg/100 g DW), deoxyschisandrin (55.19 mg/100 g DW), gomisin A (36.97 mg/100 g DW), and also chlorogenic acid (15.33 mg/100 g DW) and protocatechuic acid (13.11 mg/100 g DW). This is the first report providing evidence of the importance of light quality on the production of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans and phenolic acids in the biomass of S. chinensis cultivated in vitro.