Indian sarsaparilla, Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. ex Schult: tissue culture studies

Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. ex Schult is commonly known as anantmul or Indian sarsaparilla. The roots of this plant, which display a wide range of medicinal, biological, and phytopharmaceutical properties, are used in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Conventionally, the plant is propagated by seed germination or vegetatively, but the efficacy of traditional methods has some limitations: plants derived from seed germination are prone to seed-borne diseases, or plantlet production using vegetative propagation is limited. In contrast, plant tissue culture allows for large-scale propagation and secondary metabolite production in vitro without sacrificing plants from their natural habitats. Many efforts have been made over 40 years of research to establish efficient micropropagation protocols to speed up cultivation of this plant, including callus-mediated in vitro propagation, somatic embryogenesis, and shoot multiplication using cotyledenory nodes, stem segments, shoot tips, and nodal explants. Among these explants, nodal explants are the most commonly used for H. indicus micropropagation. The application of adenine sulfate, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and arginine may be useful in preventing explant browning, premature leaf senescence, and shoot tip abscission during in vitro culture. This review provides insight into micropropagation, use of synthetic seeds for short-term germplasm preservation, and in vitro production of secondary metabolites such as 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, lupeol, vanillin, and rutin, from in vitro root and callus cultures. Furthermore, unexplored and possible innovative areas of research in Hemidesmus biotechnology are also discussed. KEY POINTS: • Hemidesmus indicus has multiple therapeutic applications. • H. indicus roots are used in confectionary and pharmacy. • This review comprehensively assesses H. indicus tissue culture. • Challenges and future research of H. indicus biotechnology are discussed.