Effect of elicitors on the bioactive metabolites in the cell suspension culture of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis

• Elicitation in Gardenia jasminoides suspension cultures was established using chitosan, methyl jasmonate, and a combination of their optimal concentrations. • Biomass accumulation and enhancement of total phenol, flavonoid, and terpenoid levels were assessed in the elicited suspension cultures. • Chitosan exhibited the highest biomass accumulation and metabolite yield compared with the other elicitor treatments. • Chitosan enhanced geniposide and genipin accumulation in Gardenia jasminoides suspension cultures within 36 h. Gardenia jasminoides Ellis has emerged as a novel source of essential secondary metabolites with extensive pharmacological potential. This economically significant plant inadequately meets the escalating demand, largely because of the scarcity of research to enhance the secondary metabolite yields. Acknowledging the critical role of elicited suspension cultures, this report introduces a pioneering technique to amplify the production of phenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, geniposide (GNPS), and genipin (GNP) in G. jasminoides suspension cultures for the first instance. The suspension culture was accomplished by introducing friable calli derived through culturing in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium fortified with 1 mg/L 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5 mg/L Kinetin (KT). Chitosan (CH) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) were applied to the cultures at concentration ranges of 20–100 mg/L and 50–250 µM to test the potential of elicitation. The combined effects of elicitors at optimal concentrations were examined. The impact of elicitors on growth, biomass accumulation, total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total terpenoid content (TTC) in suspension cultures was determined. The findings indicated that CH outperformed MJ and their combination in biomass accumulation and augmentation of TPC, TFC, and TTC, compared to the control culture. The levels of GNPS and GNP in CH-elicited suspension culture reached their highest levels, surpassing the accumulation observed in field-grown plants. A new framework has been derived for subsequent research focused on augmenting bioactive compounds at an industrial scale upon elicitation.