Lignans in Schisandra chinensis in vitro cultures.

Contents of schisandrol A and schisandrol B were determined in methanolic extracts of biomass from in vitro cultures of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (Schisandraceae) using an HPLC method. The biomass was cultured on six variants of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different concentrations of growth regulators, cytokinin (BAP) and auxin (NAA). The contents of both lignans were different and dependent on the MS medium variant. The maximal contents of schisandrol A (70.54 mg/100 g d.w.) and schisandrol B (86.41 mg/100 g d.w.) were considerable in comparison with plant material: leaves (29.69 and 34.50 mg/100 g d.w.) and fruits (132.39 and 109.40 mg/100 g d.w., respectively). This is the first report on the quantitative analysis of schisandrol A and schisandrol B in Schisandra chinensis in vitro cultures.