Riboflavin affects anthocyanin synthesis in nitrogen culture using strawberry suspended cells

Anthocyanins were produced under 88.8 mu mol m(-2)s(-1) for 2 wk using cells derived from suspended cultures of strawberry leaf tissues. Although riboflavin stagnated cell growth, anthocyanin synthesis was strongly enhanced. The highest anthocyanin contents (about 1000 mu g/g cell) were obtained at 1 wk in optimum medium using 8 and 10 mg/L concentrations of riboflavin, attaining amounts 2.7 times more than the control. Total anthocyanin production was highest in the 4 mg/L riboflavin concentration after 2 wk. Moreover, this enhancement of anthocyanin synthesis by riboflavin supplements was observed in culture conditions in which cells generally lost the faculty of producing anthocyanin, such as a ratio of NH4+. NO3-/0:60, 60:0, 0:30, and 30:0 after 1 wk. The highest anthocyanin content was obtained in a ratio of NH4+ (30 mM):NO3- (0 mM), which reached 1474 mu g/g cell and was 7.1 times greater than that obtained al 2 wks and that produced by the control after 1 wk. Riboflavin also influenced major anthocyanins composition.