Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of in vitro and in vivo grown carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) plants

Abstract

Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a plant with significant nutritional and medicinal properties that is widely used in the Mediterranean region. In this study, we investigated the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of extracts from in vitro and in vivo grown carob plant parts. We found that the LAC medium was more effective than MS medium in promoting the accumulation of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in vitro in leaves. Our comparative analysis of in vivo and in vitro plant samples revealed considerable variations in the levels of bioactive compounds in different parts of the carob tree. Notably, the in vitro leaf extracts showed a comparable production of total phenolic content compared to in vivo leaf extracts, indicating that in vitro culture techniques could be a promising alternative to produce bioactive compounds from carob. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the potential applications of plant tissue culture to produce valuable phytochemicals and highlight the need for further research to optimize the in vitro production of phenolics in carob.