In vitro shoot regeneration and analysis of biochemical, antioxidant and anticancer properties of Ananas comosus var. MD2

Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) is one of the most important crops in the world. Although the phytochemical compounds of pineapple fruits have been extensively studied, little attention was paid on other parts of the plant. In this study, we developed an efficient in vitro regeneration procedures for A. comosus var. MD2 as well as analyzed the phytochemical composition, antioxidant and anticancer activities in field-grown and in vitro leaf samples. Leaf base explants cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 1.0 mg/L IBA and 2.0 mg/L BAP produced the highest percentage of shoot response (100%) with a mean number of 6 microshoots per explant. Biochemical analysis showed that in vitro leaf samples contained higher amount of carotenoids and anthocyanins but lower total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging activity than field-grown leaves. Flavonoids, tannins, sterols and alkaloids were detected in both field-grown and in vitro leaf samples. The methanolic extracts from both samples exhibited low cytotoxic activity against human ovarian SKOV-3 and human breast MCF-7 cancer cells. These results suggested that pineapple leaves might not be suitable to serve as chemotherapeutic agent and further exploitation on other secondary metabolites is required.