Tentative evidence of a rosmarinic acid peroxidase in cell cultures from lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) flowers.

The oxidative stability of rosmarinic acid (alpha-O-caffeoyl-3,4-dihydroxyphenyllactic acid) in lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) cell cultures was studied in an attempt to explain the decrease in the rosmarinic acid content of aging cell cultures, a process which is associated with the appearance of brown pigments. The oxidation of rosmarinic acid by a partially purified protein fraction was followed spectrophotometrically and by HPLC. The results showed that rosmarinic acid oxidation was almost totally dependent on the presence of H2O2 and protein, and that brownish products were the results of this oxidation, resembling those shown by aging cell cultures. Since this protein fraction contains peroxidase activities and shows the total absence of tropolone-sensitive polyphenoloxidase (catecholase) and laccase activities, rosmarinic acid oxidation is tentatively proposed to be caused by a peroxidase-like activity. These results support the existence of a rosmarinic acid peroxidase in cell cultures of lavandin flowers, which may be involved in the oxidative destruction of rosmarinic acid, and which may also be responsible for the formation of brown pigments during aging, lowering the yields of rosmarinic acid.