Comparative study of growth and secondary metabolite production ability in transformed hairy roots from Cichorium intybus

Cichory (Cichorium intybus) roots contain medicinally important compounds such as phenols (mainly cichoric acid)، Flavonoids and inulin. Here، we obtained and established 11 different hairy root lines of chichory by inoculation of plant sterile leaf explants with the soil bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes، A4 strain. Phenolic compounds، total flavonoids and carbohydrates were determined by spectrophotometer، and chicoric acid was determined by HPLC. The highest growth rates were observed in A، H، J and I root lines. Total phenol and flavonoid contents had no significant difference between the obtained root lines but cichoric acid in J and then in F lines were more than the other lines. The highest levels of carbohydrates were observed in D، G، J and I root lines. According to the results، The J root line was the best one for growth rate، cichoric acid and carbohydrate production.