Laminarin as a potential non-conventional elicitor for enhancement of capsaicinoid metabolites

Capsaicinoids are alkaloids responsible for the pungency factor in the fruits of Capsicum sp. Capsaicin finds its use as food additive and in pharmaceutical applications. Enhancement of capsaicin and related metabolites of the capsaicinoid biosynthetic pathway in Capsicum fruits was achieved using laminarin-an algal cell wall polysaccharide as elicitor. A 1.5-2 fold increase in the overall capsaicinoid content (capsaicin & dihydrocapsaicin) was observed in the fruits of the plants sprayed with aqueous extract of laminarin over the control. Of the concentrations tried 2% (W/V) laminarin spray was effective in enhancing the capsaicinoid and related metabolites. Lower concentration of laminarin, had no significant impact on metabolite profiles. Laminarin could be effectively used as an alternate source for conventionally used several biotic and abiotic elicitors for improvement of secondary metabolites in plants of high economic importance.

Author(s): Harishchandra B Gururaj, Parvatam Giridhar and Gokare A Ravishankar*

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