Methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid enhance the total flavonoid, phenolics, and cannabidiol contents of Cannabis sativa L. adventitious roots

Elicitors can promote the production of important metabolites in the adventitial roots (ARs) cultures. This study assessed the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA) on the levels of bioactive compounds, including the total flavonoid content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC), and total cannabidiol (CBD) content, in AR cultures of Cannabis sativa L. The results indicated that MeJA and SA treatment resulted in the highest AR dry weight of 200 and 50 µM, respectively. Furthermore, MeJA and SA treatment increased the soluble sugar content (SSC), proline (Pro), and soluble protein content (SPC), as well as the activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in ARs. Moreover, the optimal MeJA and SA concentrations for enhancing TFC, TPC, and total CBD content were 200 and 50 μM, respectively, while the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and prenyltransferase (PT) were also found to be highest at these concentrations. In addition, 50 μM SA was found to be more effective than 200 μM MeJA for increasing TFC, whereas for TPC, MeJA was more effective than SA; however, both elicitors were equally effective in enhancing the total CBD. In summary, this study investigated the effects of MeJA and SA as elicitors on AR cultures from C. sativa, providing new evidence for the synthesis of metabolites in vitro.