Cultura de tecidos e atividade antioxidante de Cyphomamdra betacea (Cav.) Sendtn

Abstract

Cyphomandra betacea, popularly known as "tomate árvore" or "tamarillo", is an Andean species of the Solanaceae family with high economic potential as fruit crop. The propagation of this specie is made by seeds, a system that provoke undesirable variations in fruit shape, color, plant behavior and yield, among other traits. An alternative for the production of C. betacea is in vitro propagation. In this context, the aims of the present work were to evaluate the in vitro response of different explants of C. betacea to growth regulators, as well as the determination of the antioxidant activity and phenolic content of leaves, fruits and micropropagated plants of tamarillo. The results obtained showed that micropropagation by divition of nodal segments and their culture on MS medium without growth regulators, is a feasible alternative for the production of uniform propagules from selected plants. Direct regeneration was obtained from hypocotiles segments cultivated on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L of BA, representing an alternative for C. betacea propagation. Auxins, as 2,4-D, picloram and NAA, induced callus formation from leaves and stem explants of C. betacea. However, high phenolic oxidation of both explants and calli prevented the indirect regeneration from those calli. However, indirect organogenic regeneration was obtained from stem derived calli developed in the absence of growth regulators, when transferred to MS medium with 0.5 mg/L of BA. Leaf extracts of C. betacea exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the juice obtained from mature and immature fruits. In vitro growth on BA containing media duplicated the phenolic content and the DPPH free radical scavenging prorierty, and significantly reduced the CAT-like activity.