Induction of root formation to produce silymarin in Silybium marianum plant in tissue culture condition

The Silybium marianum is the dicotyledonous herbs of the Asteraceae family that is important in medical industry. The biological active compound of Silybium marianum is a mixture of several flavonolignals generally known as silymarin. The purpose of current research is root formation induction in hypocotyls explants in medium culture. The young shoots were cultured on MS medium containing different concentrations of indole-3-butyric (IBA) and Naphtalene acetic acid (NAA). The results indicated that the highest root formation percentage and root length were observed in young shoots which were treated in MS medium supplemented with 0. 1 mg/l IBA and NAA. Then produced roots were transferred to liquid medium. After root growth، roots were subjected to different volumes of medium culture، light and dark treatments and different pH medium. The effect of volumes of culture medium did not showed any significant difference on root growth and silymarin production. Results showed that light treatment induced more silymarin in production compared to dark treatment. Also the culture medium with pH=7 was superior to other pH for silymarin production.