Cell culture of <i>Scorzonera hispanica</i> L., strain SFR-SH1. Major secondary metabolites

Plant cell cultures are widely used in the world pharmaceutical industry as a raw material for the production of biologically active compounds. Their certain advantages, such as independence from seasonal conditions, diseases and their transmitter, contribute to the development of this area of biotechnology. In addition, it is possible to obtain the required quantity of the desired product with standard quality characteristics. Since the biosynthesis of new compounds does not occur in the intact plant, another advantage of this method arises. It consists in obtaining new substances due to the peculiarities of cell culture biology. The conducted review represents secondary metabolites isolated from the cell culture of Scorzonera hispanica L., strain SFR-SH1, possessing biological activity. In addition, the history of developing the selected strain and schemes for isolation and purification of secondary metabolites are demonstrated. For a clearer discussion, the main secondary metabolites found in cells are broadly divided into three groups. The first group includes compounds typical of most plants: β-sitosterol and its glucoside, caffeic acid methyl ester and oleanic acid. The second group contains syringaresinol monoglucoside, which is relatively rare in plant objects. The third group includes two compounds isolated from natural objects for the first time: sesquiterpene glucoside, scorzoside and neolignan scorzonoside. The results obtained were compared with the available literature data on the chemical composition of native plants of S. hispanica and other Scorzonera genera species. Due to its high biological activity, Syringaresinol monoglycoside attracts more attention than other compounds detected in cultured cells. Long-term cultivation of Monoglycoside leads to an alteration in the physicochemical characteristics of this compound for an unknown reason.