LAUSR

Celastrus paniculatus Willd. belongs to the family Celastraceae, and it is an important medicinal plant distributed all over India. Since the antioxidative polyphenols in C. paniculatus have received an increase in attention for health-promoting properties by scavenging the free radicals, the objective of this study is aimed at understanding the antioxidant potential of calli cultures generated from C. paniculatus. To establish the calli cultures, leaf explants derived from direct organogenesis of C. paniculatus have been cultured on the Murashige and Skoog medium (MS). The culture medium is supplemented with different concentrations of 6-Benzylaminopurine (0.5 mg l−1) along with 2,4-D and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.1–0.7 mg l−1). The MS medium containing 0.5 mg l−1 [Benzylaminopurine (BAP) + NAA] and 0.5 mg l−1 of BAP + 0.3 mg l−1 2,4-D showed to be the best medium for the formation of calli. The calli cultures were harvested and lyophilized for methanolic extraction and estimated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents in the calli cultures by using the spectroscopic method technique and also analyzed by highperformance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) profiling and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to assess their antioxidant potential. The histological findings supported the result of HPTLC and HPLC by displaying a clear deposition of polyphenols in the vacuoles. Additionally, free radicals generated from the biological system were detected and the ‘g’ value was identified by the electron spin resonance spectrum and understood their radical scavenging activity by several nonenzymatic methods, which include 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, reducing power activity, 2, 2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical scavenging assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. The research results showed that 0.5 mg l−1 of BAP along with NAA is an optimal hormone concentration for developing friable calli which in turn yields higher phenolic and flavonoid content.