Bioactivity assessment of high potency arachidin mixture from large-scale peanut hairy root culture medium

Peanut hairy root culture serves as a potent tool for producing valuable prenylated stilbenoids. A significant amount of chitosan (CHT), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (CD) was used to elicit hairy roots in a bioreactor, which were later subjected to freeze-drying and extracted with acetone. The group Gr.4, obtained from the first-column chromatography and consisting of partially purified mixed arachidin, exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, measuring 3,067.53 ± 176.98 µmole Trolox/g crude extract. Moreover, when examining the antimicrobial activity, the partially purified Gr.4 showed the lowest minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans, with values of 31, 63, 125, and 78 µg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, the DNA nicking assay using the Fenton reaction demonstrated the DNA damage effect when plasmid DNA was exposed to concentrations of 25–100 µg/ml of partially purified Gr.4. Additionally, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results revealed irregularities and abnormalities in all tested microbial cells after treatment with 2xMIC of partially purified Gr.4. The enhanced activity exhibited by mixed arachidin compounds compared to the crude extract indicates a high potency of mixed arachidin. Moreover, the simplicity of isolation and purification suggests that the mixed arachidin compounds could be a preferable alternative for further applications as effective compounds rather than using them in individually purified forms.