Investigation of the effects of graphite and nanographene oxide on the developmental characteristics of the production of some secondary metabolites of Plantago Major in vitro

Abstract

Introduction: Plantago major is a medicinal plant used for pharmacological influences like laxative,antibacterial and antiinflammatory effects.Application of nanoparticles to produce secondary metabolites is a challenging issue.Research showed that graphite and nanographene oxide can have effects on plants growth in a certain range of concentration.Therefore, they could be used as elicitors to affect production of secondary metabolites.Aim:Investigating the effects of graphite and nanographene oxide on the growth and development characteristics and the production of some secondary metabolites of Plantago major through invitro culture. Materials and Methods:Graphite and graphene oxide NPs were characterized by using SEM-edx, DLS, FT-IR and XRD. In the invitro micropropagation of plantago in the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, one month old Plantles were exposed to 100ppm and 200ppm of each of the two substances graphite and nanographene for 30 days; and after that growth characteristics, total phenol and flavonoid content, antioxidant properties, phenolic and volatile compounds of the plant extracts were evaluated.Results:Elicitor treatments could induce production of some volatiles like Squalene, Geraniol and Farnesol in the n-hexane extracts of palntlets. Treatment with 100 and 200 ppm of nanographene oxide increased the length of leaves but treatments with 100 ppm of graphite decreased the number of leaves in comparison to control.Also,both elicitors decreased the amount of total phenol an flavonoid compounds but they didn’t have any special effects of the plant’s antioxidant effect. Conclusion:We found that nanographene oxide in optimum levels may improve the growth of plants and also the production of some volatile compouds and also graphite may reduce leaf number.So they could be utilized as elicitors for in vitro biosynthesis of precious metabolites in micropropagation of medicinal plants and inhancing plants growth.