Biotransformation of Hydroquinone to Arbutin by Cell-Suspension Cultures of Three Thai Solanaceous Plants

Cell-suspension cultures of Capsicum annuum L., Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. and, Datura fastuosa L. (Solanaceae) were established and investigated for the ability to biotransform exogenously-supplied hydroquinone to arbutin. All cultures exhibited good 24-day growth in Murashige and Skoog medium, supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and benzylaminopurine as plant growth regulators, and with sucrose as a carbon source. The feeding of 15.57 mM hydroquinone into the system resulted in the production of arbutin after 24 hours and reached a maximum value after 2 to 5 days. The cell-suspension culture of C. annuum exhibited the fastest growth and the strongest glycosylation ability. The maximum yield of arbutin, as determined by a HPLC method, was 368.71±57.46 mg/L in the suspension culture of C. annuum. Cell cultures of S. aculeatissimum and D. fastuosa also showed the production of arbutin. For all systems, the amount of arbutin released into the culture medium was higher than that accumulated in the cells.