Pharmacognosical & plant tissue culture studies of Melissa officinalis L.

Abstract

Background: Melissa officinalis is a traditional herbal medicine used widely as a mid sedative, spasmolytic and antibacterial agent. This paper focuses on the analysis of the chemical composition of essential oil from the upper parts of plant and calli of Melissa officinalis. Method: Growing the calli of Melissa officinalis L. and production its secondary metabolites studied and compared with those in the whole plant. Melissa seeds were first surface sterilized by shaking in 0.3% (W/V) aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution containing 1 drop tween 80, then by shaking in 5% Na hypochlorite and 70% aqueous Ethanol solution then, under aseptic condition, strile petrydishes containing autoclaved agar (0.8%) and kept in the dark at a temprature of 25-27°C. Seedlings were developed in one week. Then they were transferred to strile Murashing and skoog (MS) culture media which were containing 2,4- D (1 mg/l), IAA (1 mg/l) and K (0.2 mg/l) as plant grow regulators. The amorph masses (calli) were produced and subcultvred every 20-25 days. Results: The result obtained from GC/MS of essential oil if upper parts of plant indicated that the major compounds of the essential oil are Citronellal, Neral, Geranial and β- Caryophyllene. Conclusion: In contrast, calli lacked essential oil, this was indicated upon GC of its dichlorometanic extract, however phytochemical tests indicated that some tannins were produced by calli.

Keywords

• melissa officinalis
• tissue culture
• essential oil