Nam Su Kim1,
Ramaraj Sathasivam1,
Se Won Chun1,
Woo Bin Youn2,
Sang Un Park1,
Byung Bae Park2 
For correspondence:- Byung Park Email: bbpark@cnu.ac.kr Tel:+82428215747
Accepted: 23 April 2020 Published: 31 May 2020
Citation: Kim NS, Sathasivam R, Chun SW, Youn WB, Un Park S, Park BB. Biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids and their protective effect against heavy metals in nitrogen-fixing black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(5):1065-1072 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i5.23
© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
Purpose: To examine the effect of various heavy metals (HMs) on phenylpropanoid pathway compounds in Robinia pseudoacacia.
Methods: A series of pot culture experiments were performed to understand how the metabolic profile of phenylpropanoid compounds were affected by various HMs, such as redox-active HMs (AgNO3 and CuCl2), and non-redox-active HMs (HgCl2). Phenylpropanoid compound level was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography.
Results: The total phenylpropanoid level in leaves increased significantly in all the treated groups when compared to that in the untreated group (p < 0.05). However, a significant effect on the total phenylpropanoid levels was only found for redox-active HMs (p < 0.05), whereas non-redox-active HMs showed less accumulation. Chlorogenic acid and rutin were the two major phenylpropanoid compounds found after the plants were subjected to redox and non-redox-active HMs stress. However, when compared to these two compounds, the levels of catechin hydrate, epicatechin, p-coumaric acid, kaempferol, and quercetin were lower. Caffeic acid level was significantly decreased in both redox and non-redox-active HMs when compared to that in the control (p < 0.05). In addition, trans-cinnamic acid accumulation was altered based on the types and concentration of HMs.
Conclusion: Phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway participated in the HM tolerance process for the protection of R. pseudoacacia from oxidative damage caused by HMs, thus allowing the species to grow in highly HMs-contaminated areas.
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