Phenotypic Variability and Anticancer Alkaloid Profiles of Catharanthus roseus Cultivars Grown Under a Vertical...

Plants are promising biofactories for high-value compounds, and integrating vertical farming (VF) with plant molecular farming (PMF) enhances the efficiency and sustainability of these systems. Catharanthus roseus (L.) is the only natural source of vinblastine (VLB) and vincristine (VCR), key anticancer alkaloids used in chemotherapy. This study assessed the morpho-physiological responses and the organ-specific anticancer-related terpenoid indole alkaloid (TIA) production in nine C. roseus cultivars grown in a VF system. Results revealed a significant intraspecific variability (between and within plant series) concerning both plant growth and alkaloid profile. Although total anticancer-related TIA concentration was 1.6- to 5.9-fold higher in leaves than in flowers, the key anticancer alkaloids VLB and VCR exhibited distinct patterns depending on the cultivar, with 'C-Red' showing a higher concentration of both alkaloids in leaves, while 'C-XDR-PN' and 'C-XDR-WT' had a significantly higher concentration of VCR in flowers (3.15 and 4.05-times higher, respectively). This cultivar-dependent variability, in the production of specific anticancer alkaloids, highlights the importance of a proper cultivar selection for their commercial production. Our findings show that VCR concentration may serve as a more reliable cultivar selection marker for anticancer alkaloid yield than total biomass or overall TIA content in VF systems.