The rosmarinic acid content of basil and borage correlates with the ratio of red and far-red light

Rosmarinic acid (RA) and caffeic acid (CA) are potent antixodiants and show antimicrobial activity against many fungal plant pathogens. Their biosynthesis employs enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway, a pathway that in mustard is regulated by phytochrome. If RA biosynthesis is regulated by phytochromes one would expect that the RA level correlated with the ratio of red to far-red light. In this paper we tested this hypothesis by growing basil and borage under different ratios of red to far-red light. CA and RA contents were measured with state of the art LC-MS/MS. Regression analysis showed that there is a significant inverse correlation of the ratio of red to far-red light and the content of RA, but not of CA. Hence, we conclude that RA biosynthesis is regulated by phytochrome.

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