# Assessment of Phytochemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Micropropagated Drymis winteri Plants

## TL;DR

This study develops a lab-based method to grow canelo plants and extract antifungal compounds, showing similar results to wild plants.

## Contribution

A scalable in vitro micropropagation system for D. winteri with comparable antifungal compound yields to wild plants is developed.

## Key findings

- Four tailored culture media successfully enabled propagation, rooting, and callus induction of D. winteri.
- Phytochemical composition of in vitro and wild D. winteri extracts is similar, as shown by HPLC and GC-MS analyses.
- Extracts from in vitro plants showed antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea comparable to wild plant extracts.

## Abstract

The search for sustainable alternatives to synthetic agrochemicals has fueled a growing interest in plant-derived bioactive compounds. Drimys winteri (canelo), a native Chilean tree of significant ethnobotanical importance, is a promising source of antifungal sesquiterpenes, such as polygodial and drimenol. This study describes the development of an in vitro clonal micropropagation platform for D. winteri that enables the production of plant material under controlled laboratory conditions, which is subsequently submitted to extraction to obtain these bioactive compounds. Four tailored culture media have been formulated for successful propagation, rooting of plantlets, and callus induction. Histological analysis confirmed the presence of meristemoids in the dedifferentiated calli. Furthermore, HPLC and GC-MS analyses indicate that phytochemical composition of extracts of in vitro-propagated D. winteri and those from mature, wild-grown trees is quite similar. This result is in line with the antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea exhibited by these extracts; namely, both are comparable. This biotechnological approach offers a scalable method for producing plant-based antifungal agents, contributing to sustainable agriculture and the valorization of native genetic resources.