PLANT TISSUE CULTURE Morphogenesis and in vitro production of caffeoylquinic and caffeic acids in Baccharis conferta Kunth Annel Lizeth Leyva-Peralta 1 & Guadalupe Salcedo-Morales 1 & Virginia Medina-Pérez 1 & Alma Rosa López-Laredo 1 & José Luis Trejo-Espino 1 & Gabriela Trejo-Tapia 1 Received: 12 January 2019 /Accepted: 11 March 2019 / Editor: Yong Eui Choi # The Society for In Vitro Biology 2019 Abstract We established a protocol for the in vitro propagation of Baccharis conferta Kunth. This plant is used to treat gastrointestinal problems, cramps, pain, respiratory problems, and insect bites. A high rate of shoot multiplication was obtained from nodal segments on Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture medium. The shoots regenerated roots without exogenous plant growth regulators (PGRs). All explants of wild leaves on MS medium containing 5 μM of thidiazuron (TDZ) produced friable callus. An organogenic response was achieved after 3 wk of culture when callus segments were transferred to MS medium containing a combination of plant growth regulators (PGRs): either (i) 5 μM indole butyric acid (IBA) + 5 μM kinetin (KIN) or (ii) 0.5 μM IBA + 1.10 μM benzylaminopurine (BAP). The morphogenetic responses of callus were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Shoots regenerated from callus and formed roots on MS medium without PGRs. The micropropagated plantlets and the organogenic callus showed similar chemical profiles in HPLC-mass spectrometry analyses. The main compounds present in the cultures were caffeoylquinic acids. Only plantlets contained small amounts of triterpenes (erythrodiol and ursolic acid). These findings will be useful for the micropropagation of this important native resource, and for further studies on its biology. Keywords Baccharis conferta . Callus culture . Caffeoylquinic acids . Caffeic acid . Plantlets regeneration . Shoot multiplication Introduction Baccharis (Asteraceae) is a large genus comprising approxi- mately 500 species distributed mainly in the Americas. Baccharis species have anti-inflammatory (Abad et al. 2006), antioxidant (Sabir et al. 2017), antibacterial (Sartor et al. 2013), antidiabetic (Hocayen et al. 2016), and anthel- mintic activities (de Oliveira et al. 2014). These activities are attributed to chemical compounds such as flavonoids, pheno- lic acids, terpenes, and essential oils (Ramos-Campos et al. 2016). Phenolic acids such as caffeic acid and caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs) have been identified in Baccharis chilca, Baccharis dentata, or Baccharis trimera (Abad et al. 2006). Caffeoylquinic acids are compounds formed by esters of hydroxycinnamic acids (p-coumaric, ferulic, or caffeic) and quinic acid, all of which contain chlorogenic acid (Clifford et al. 2007). CQAs have various biological functions, such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-hyper- cholesterolemia, and anti-hyperglycemic activities. There is much interest in CQAs that are attractive because of their antioxidant activity, which is related to their anti- inflammatory and neuroprotective properties (Yang et al. 2017). Baccharis conferta Kunth (Asteraceae) is native to Mexico, where it is commonly known as ‘ azoyate ’ , ‘quauhizquiztli’, and ‘broom’. This species is used in various regions of Mexico to alleviate gastrointestinal problems, cramps, pain, respiratory illnesses, and insect bites. The use of this species in the form of decoctions or infusions of the aerial parts has been recorded in ethnobotanical literature (Heinrich et al. 1998; Mata 2009). To date, little research has been conducted on any aspect of this species. Weimann et al. (2002) reported that the ethanolic extract of aerial parts showed a dose-dependent antispasmodic effect, which was attributed mainly to flavonoids. That study also identified oleanoic acid, its methyl ester, and erythrodiol as components of the extract. Recently, we described an ovicidal effect of * Gabriela Trejo-Tapia gttapia@ipn.mx 1 Departamento de Biotecnología, Centro de Desarrollo de Productos Bióticos, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 062730 Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-019-09977-3