Micropropagation and ex situ conservation of achillea thracica velen

The genus Achillea (Asteraceae) comprises more than 130 perennial species most of which grow wild in Northeastern Europe and Northwestern Asia. In this study, Achillea thracica Velen. (in vivo plants) was collected at its natural habitat in Thracian lowland, Manole village, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and propagated successfully in vitro on standard cultivation MS medium enriched in Gamburg vitamins (MSB5 medium). The plants were successfully ex vitro adapted and transferred to the experimental field in Lozen mountain. A. thracica is a Bulgarian endemic species containing a variety of biologically active compounds: monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the content of total phenols and flavonoids and the total antioxidant activity in in vivo, in vitro and ex vitro adapted plants. Significant total phenolic content was observed in in vivo and ex vitro grown plants (48.02±4.06 and 40.02±0.49 mg gallic acid (GA).g -1 dry weight (DW), respectively). Interestingly, a higher content of flavonoids was observed in in vitro and ex vitro plants (10.62±0.28 and 12.49±0.46 mg quercetin (Q).g -1 DW, respectively). On the other hand, significant increase in the total antioxidant activity was observed in in vitro, followed by in vivo plants (83.39±0.54 and 73.18±2.3 mM tocopherol.g -1 DW, respectively). The present work offers an effective alternative method for propagation and preservation of the important medicinal plant A. thracica, and in parallel the modulation of its biological activity was followed during the different cultivation conditions.