This study investigated the elicitation effects of several methyl jasmonate (MeJ) concentrations (0, 25, 50, and 100 µM) on various biochemical traits of caraway (Carum carvi L.) callus cultures. The 25 μM MeJ concentration yielded the highest callus growth rate (0.57 mm day-1), total flavonols content (2.58 mg QE g-1 FW) and total carotenoids content (0.04 μg g-1 FW), whereas the highest relative fresh weight (75.72%), total phenolics content (76.90 mg GAE g-1 FW), total flavonoids content (58.49 mg QE g-1 FW) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity (3.40 nmol cinnamic acid mg-1 h-1 FW) were obtained with the 50 μM MeJ concentration. The highest antioxidant activity through DPPH assay (8.37%) and malondialdehyde content (7.82 μmol g-1 FW) were observed at 100 μM MeJ. The HPLC conducted 21 days post-elicitation revealed a 5.55-fold increase of carvone accumulation (1.83 μg g-1 DW) at 50 μM MeJ and a 2.7-fold increase (0.62 μg g-1 DW) of limonene at 50 μM MeJ. The optimal dosages applied for carvone and limonene accumulation under MeJ elicitation could be used to scale up the economic production of these elite medicinal compounds through caraway callus cultures.
Keywords: Callus; HPLC; phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity; secondary metabolites; total phenolics content.