Objective: To study the culture of adventitious root of Salvia miltiorrhiza in vitro systemically.
Method: Effects of sucrose concentrations, medium pH, inoculum size and plant growth regulators on adventitious root growth and secondary metabolites production in S. miltiorrhiza were investigated.
Result: With the increase of initial sucrose concentration, adventitious root growth rates increased and tanshinone II A content decreased, while content of protocatechuic aldehyde showed a broken line change and its highest production was obtained under 30 g x L(-1) sucrose in the medium. As for the effect of medium pH, medium pH of 6.5, 5.5 (or 6.0) and 5.8 was favorable for adventitious root growth, tanshinone II A and protocatechuic aldehyde synthesis respectively. Furthermore, adventitious root growth, rate was greatly increased when inoculum size was 2.5%. MS medium added with 0.5 mg x L(-1) KT was much favorable for tanshinone II A and protocatechuic aldehyde accumulation.
Conclusion: Parameters including sucrose concentrations, medium pH, inoculum size and plant growth regulators have distinct effects on the in vitro culture of adventitious root growth and secondary metabolites synthesis of S. miltiorrhiza.