Evaluating the status of phytochemicals within Catharanthus roseus due to higher metal stress

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle) is the source of terpenoid indole alkaloids which are minor products in the plants, making their isolation elaborate and costly. The low yield of the alkaloids in the plant combined with their high market price made Catharanthus roseus an important model system for plant biotechnology and secondary metabolism studies. This study highlights the responses of Catharanthus roseus due to metal stress under pot culture conditions. It was observed that metals like zinc and copper showed a positive effect on accumulation of few secondary metabolites in Catharanthus roseus. Accumulation of total alkaloids, phenolics and flavonoids in the plants were observed to increase with increasing concentrations of these metal treatments given to growing plants. Similarly, plants grown in industrially contaminated soils also showed varying alkaloid, phenolics and flavonoid accumulation in comparison to those grown in garden soil. Higher metal contaminations in the soil lead to higher production of certain phytochemicals in different plant parts.