Abstract
•Ginger rhizome extracts displayed strong cytotoxic effect against HT29, HT116 and MCF-7 cancer cells lines with highest activity against HT29.•Ginger callus extracts recorded non-cytotoxic effect against all examined cancer cells with IC50 >100 µg/mL.•Ginger rhizome extracts contained more phenols and terpenes than the callus ones.•The principal components of ginger; 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol were not detected in callus extracts.•Incidence of genetic changes in DNA of ginger callus during in vitro culture in 2,4-D containing medium.•Most polymorphic bands (11 out of 12) were generated in callus during in vitro culture with total polymorphism 23.07% between callus and plant.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is well known as distinctive spice with considered therapeutic values. In the current work we aimed to investigate cytotoxic effect, phytochemical screening and genetic analysis of ginger callus and their rhizome. Cytotoxicity of ginger rhizome and callus extracts was examined against some human cancer cell lines HT29, HT116 and MCF-7 by MTT method. Phytochemicals were screened by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and genetic analysis was performed by ISSR markers. Ginger rhizome principle components, 6-gingerol and 6-shogoal were used as standards to detect their presence in callus. Results showed that, rhizome extracts displayed a strong cytotoxicity towards all tested cancer cells with the highest activity (IC50 20.4 ± 3.0 µg/mL; P<0.05) against HT29. IC50 of ginger callus extracts were >100 µg/mL in all examined cancer cell lines. TLC chromatograms of rhizome and callus extracts revealed the presence of phenols and terpenes, whereas 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol were only detected in rhizome extracts. Genetic analysis by ISSR markers revealed occurrence some genetic changes in DNA of callus compared to that of rhizome with total polymorphism 23.07%. In conclusion, ginger cytotoxicity to HT29, HT116 and MCF-7 cancer cells was mainly associated with the presence of 6-shogaol and 6-gingerol in extracts, which appeared as strong cytotoxic effect in rhizome compared to non-cytotoxic effect was evaluated in the callus extracts. Therefore, further studies on the callus elicitation and precursors feeding to induce biosynthesis of ginger bioactive molecules are recommended.