The current work aims to stimulate the production of rhoifolin and tiliroside as two valuable
phytochemicals from Chorisia chodatii Hassl. and Chorisia speciosa A. St.-Hil. callus cultures. A comparison
between three explants from the in vitro germinated seedlings of both species for callus induction and
accumulation of both
flavonoids was carried out. Highly efficient calluses were induced from the leaves,
stems and roots of C. chodatii seedlings on Gamborg’s B5 (B5) and Murashige and Skoog (MS) media
containing 2.0 mg/l b-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 0.5 mg/l 6-benzyladenin (BA) or kinetin (Kn),
while those of C. speciosa seedlings efficiently produced calluses on both media supplemented with 0.5 or
1.0 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l BA. Besides, the highest contents of rhoifolin (1.927 mg/g DW) and tiliroside
(1.776 mg/g DW) from C. speciosa cultures were obtained from the calluses of seedlings’ roots and stems
maintained on B5 medium containing 1.0 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l BA, respectively. On the other hand, the
maximum rhoifolin content (0.555 mg/g DW) from C. chodatii cultures was obtained from the calluses of
seedlings’ stems grown on B5 medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l BA, whereas the
highest tiliroside content (0.547 mg/g DW) was provided by the root explants on B5 medium containing
2.0 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l Kn. Both
flavonoids were bioaccumulated in greater amounts than the wild and
cultivated intact plants, which provides a promising tool for their future commercial production under a
controlled environment, independent of climate and soil conditions.