Evaluación del efecto de la radiación Ionizante (gamma) y no ionizante (UV-B) sobre el contenido de flavonoides en passiflora quadrangularis

Abstract

Flavonoids are secondary metabolites with recognized antioxidant and pharmacological potential, whose biosynthesis can be modulated by physical elicitors such as radiation. In this study, the effect of gamma radiation (5 Gy) and ultraviolet radiation (UV-B) on the concentration of total flavonoids in Passiflora quadrangularis leaves was evaluated using the aluminum chloride colorimetric method and UV-Visible spectrophotometry. Based on these results, a one-way fixed-effects linear model using analysis of variance (ANOVA) was established to quantitatively evaluate the effect of radiation stress on total flavonoid biosynthesis. Subsequently, post hoc tests (LSD and HSD) were performed to determine significant differences among treatments, and the results were validated using non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Mood's median test). Gamma radiation induced the greatest increase in flavonoid concentration in both the first generation and the clonal generation of the plants evaluated, considerably exceeding the control group and the UV-B treatment. The elicitor effect of gamma radiation increased in the clonal generation, showing a significant difference of 6.39 mg QE/g compared with the first generation. These findings suggest that gamma radiation at a dose of 5 Gy may represent a promising biotechnological strategy for flavonoid elicitation in plant species of pharmacological interest.