Cichorium intybus L. Hairy Roots as a Platform for Antimicrobial Activity

Suvi Häkkinen*, Katarina Cankar, Liisa Nohynek, Jeroen van Arkel, Markus Laurel, Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey, Bart Van Droogenbroeck

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Industrial chicory is an important crop for its high dietary fibre content. Besides inulin, chicory taproots contain interesting secondary metabolite compounds, which possess bioactive properties. Hairy roots are differentiated plant cell cultures that have shown to be feasible biotechnological hosts for the production of several plant-derived molecules. In this study, hairy roots of industrial chicory cultivars were established, and their potential as a source of antimicrobial ingredients was assessed. It was shown that hot water extracts of hairy roots possessed antimicrobial activity against relevant human microbes, whereas corresponding chicory taproots did not show activity. Remarkably, a significant antimicrobial activity of hot water extracts of chicory hairy roots towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was observed, indicating a high potential of hairy roots as a host for production of antimicrobial agents.
Original languageEnglish
Article number140
Number of pages11
JournalPharmaceuticals
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Jan 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work was financially supported by the CichOpt project funded under the ERA-NET FACCE SURPLUS, which received funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research, innovation programme (Grant Agreement 652615) and EU-H2020 project \u2018InnCoCells\u2019 (101000373).

Keywords

  • chicory
  • antimicrobial activity
  • hairy roots
  • sesquiterpenes
  • polyphenols
  • MRSA

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