Anthocyanin Production through Callus Culture of Apple: Effect of Nitrogen Source and Concentration of Magnesium

Anthocyanins have attracted a great deal of attention due to their capability in protecting humans from chronic diseases. Production of natural anthocyanins from fresh plant material has many limitations. Therefore, the use of plant biotechnology for the production of anthocyanin has been put in focus without such restrictions. From the other hand, some crab apples can produce anthocyanins in their various organs including in vitro-grown calli. In this study, in order to investigate the effect of different concentrations of magnesium and nitrogen source for in vitro production of anthocyanin from callus cultures of a red-fleshed crab apple genotype, leaf explants from in vitro grown seedling was exploited to produce callus. After obtaining sufficient amount of callus, treatments were exerted in a completely randomized design with four replications for each treatment and four explants in each replication. With addition of magnesium to the medium, anthocyanin production increased up to 3 fold and the highest concentration of anthocyanins was observed in the highest magnesium concentration (40 mM). However, at this concentration, the growth rate of calli reduced. Changing the nitrogen source also affected the production of anthocyanins. The best nitrogen source for the production of anthocyanin was the combination of 10 mM ammonium and 18.8 mM nitrate as well as 5 mM ammonium and 25 mM nitrate.