A new source to produce a significant quantity of a naturally occurring polyphenol, piceatannol, wasinvestigated in this study. Both resveratrol and piceatannol are recognized as important ingredientsin functional foods due to their beneficial health effects. However, unlike resveratrol, the piceatannolconcentration in plants is very low. Thus, calluses of peanuts, an easily obtainable source, werechosen as the material to induce piceatannol production under controlled conditions. To induceresveratrol and piceatannol, calluses were exposed to the ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Significantquantities of resveratrol and piceatannol were produced by calluses upon UV irradiation in both staticand suspension culture conditions. The amounts of piceatannol and resveratrol produced in 1 g ofcalluses ranged from 2.17 to 5.31
g and from 0.25 to 11.97
g, respectively, in static culture. Insuspension culture, the amounts of induced piceatannol and resveratrol were somewhat lower. Thequantities of induced piceatannol and resveratrol reached a maximum at 18 h after UV irradiationtreatment in static culture. In contrast, the levels of resveratrol and piceatannol remained almostconstant throughout the experiments in suspension culture. The piceatannol produced by calluses inall studies was much higher than the values reported in the literature, whereas the resveratrol producedwas comparable to reported values.Keywords: Piceatannol; resveratrol; ultraviolet irradiation; callus;
Arachis hypogaea; plant tissueculture