The antioxidant potential of herbs varies greatly with varietal differences, cultivation conditions and environment . In the present study, the effect of maturity of tissue cultured (TC) and tissue culture derived (TC0 andTC1) different Mentha species on iron chelation and iron reducing potential was evaluated. Mentha sps. selected for the study were Mentha piperita (PPR 611), Mentha arvensis (SH) and Mentha spicata (SPR-8). The variation in total phenolic and flavonoid content in tissue cultured and tissue culture derived plantlets can be due to culture induced variations in biosynthetic pathways. Also, the iron reducing and iron chelation property was found to be better in Mentha Spicata sps. Iron reducing property increased with increase in growth period, however the iron chelation decreased with increase in development period for three months. Also the application of tissue culture techniques in conserving and augmentation of secondary metabolites in Mentha sps was evident from results.
Key words: Mentha, reducing power, tissue culture, iron chelation, development periods
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