Micropropagation and in vitro production of secondary metabolites of Croton floribundus Spreng.

Croton floribundus Spreng., a native plant from South America, was utilized for in vitro micropropagation and phytochemical analyses. The effects of the addition of naphthaleneacetic acid and indole butyric acid, on the production of shoots and leaves, as well as volatile constituent production, were determined. The combination of naphthaleneacetic acid and indole butyric acid at a ratio of 1:1 led to the production of the maximum number of leaves and longest shoots after a 60-d subculture period. Analyses of leaf dichloromethane extracts using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were the main chemical classes present in both in vivo and in vitro conditions. Use of these plant growth regulators in the medium-induced quantitative changes in the major monoterpenes (neral, geranial, limonene, and carvone). In vitro leaf extracts produced compounds such as carvone as well as a large amount of trans -β-farnesene, with the highest production of carvone (16.8%) being produced on medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L −1 naphthaleneacetic acid. These results suggested the occurrence of biotransformation reactions of limonene and farnesyl cations in culture.