Effect of Salicylic Acid in the Yield of Ricinine in <i>Ricinus communis</i> under Greenhouse Condition

• Main Authors: Carlos Eduardo Zavala-Gómez, Eloy Rodríguez-deLeón, Mamadou Moustapha Bah, Ana Angélica Feregrino-Pérez, Juan Campos-Guillén, Aldo Amaro-Reyes, José Alberto Rodríguez-Morales, Juan Fernando García-Trejo, Antonio Flores-Macias, Rodolfo Figueroa-Brito, Miguel Angel Ramos-López
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Plants
• Subjects: <i>Ricinus communis</i>; elicitation; ricinine
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/9/1902

Castor bean (<i>Ricinus communis</i>) seeds contain ricinine, an alkaloid with insecticidal and insectistatic activities. Elicitation with salicylic acid (SA) has proven to stress <i>R. communis</i> and might modify the ricinine concentration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of ricinine in the bagasse of seeds from <i>R. communis</i> elicited with exogenous SA under greenhouse conditions. Plants were grown and divided into five groups, which were sprayed with SA and drench with 50 mL 60 days after sowing with concentrations of SA (0, 100, 300, 600 and 900 µM). Clusters were mixed and separated according to the treatment, and dried. The seeds were ground, the oil was extracted by Soxhlet with hexane, and then the bagasse was extracted with methanol. Ricinine was determined by HPLC. Elicitation did not change the plant height or diameter; the control group had 9.17 µg mL⁻¹ of ricinine; and the concentrations followed a hormesis curve with the peak at 300 µM of SA that had a ricinine concentration of 18.25 µg mL⁻¹. Elicitation with SA might be a cost-effective technique to increase ricinine from <i>R. communis</i> bagasse.