Prospects for industrial plantation cultivation of bittersweet (Celastrus L., Celastraceae) as a source of medicinal raw materials and biologically active substances

Natural biologically active substances from plants are promising stimulants or inhibitors of various physiological conditions in animals and humans. Bittersweet (Celastrus L.) is a large liana that produces a significant amount of leaves, a rapidly growing renewable source of raw materials. The medicinal properties of Celastrus are currently poorly understood, and its medical use is limited to traditional use in Asia and North America. Data on agronomic techniques for the cultivation of the plants are very fragmentary and need to be generalised for the further possibility of their plantation cultivation as valuable medicinal plants. In order to select cultivars, the presence of Celastrus species in botanical gardens in the European part of Central Russia was surveyed and the most promising species were selected. Six Celastrus taxa are recommended as the most stable and best studied for possible plantation cultivation: C. rugosus, C. flagellaris, C. scandens, C. strigillosus, C. orbiculatus and C. orbiculatus var. punctatus. The results of phenological observations of the species in the arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden of the RAS were summarized and original observations were made. It was shown that leaf growth follows a sigmoid curve. Leaf growth is rapid until mid-May and then slows down for about a month. By early June the leaves are close to their final size and by the second decade of June leaf growth is complete. Flowering was found to begin in most taxa in the third decade of May and end in the second decade of June, with fruit ripening in plants of all taxa in mid-October. Plant propagation can be either vegetative, by green stem cuttings or root cuttings, or by seed with pre-stratification. On the basis of literature data on the cultivation of Celastrus species and woody lianas in general, as well as original observations of the plants, a flow chart for the cultivation of Celastrus has been compiled. 

1. Golovach A.G. Liany, ih biologija i ispol'zovanie [Lianas, their biology and use]. – L.: Nauka. 1973. – 256 s. (In Rus.)

2. Denisov N.I. K sistematicheskomu obzoru derevjanistyh lian rossijskogo Dal'nego Vostoka [To a systematic review of woody vines of the Russian Far East]. Bjulleten' Botanicheskogo sada-instituta DVO RAN. – 2007. – № 1. – S. 44–50. URL: http://botsad.ru/media/oldfiles/journal/number1/04.pdf (In Rus.)

3. Drevesnye rasteniya Glavnogo botanicheskogo sada im N.V. Tsitsina RAN: 60 let introduktsii [Woody plants of N.V. Tsitsin’s Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences: 60 years of introduction]. M.: Nauka, 2005: 586. (In Rus.)

4. Drevogubec ili krasnopuzyrnik (Celastrus) sem. Bereskletovye. Jenciklopedija dekorativnyh sadovyh rastenij [Celastrus, Celastraceae family. Encyclopedia of ornamental garden plants] – URL: http://flower.onego.ru/liana/celastru.html (In Rus.)

5. Katalog drevesnyh rastenij, vyrashhivaemyh v pitomnikah APPM. – Moskva: APPM, 2017. – 432 s. [Catalog of woody plants grown in APPM nurseries] (In Rus.)

6. Nikolaeva M.G., Razumova M.V., Gladkova V.N. Spravochnik po prorashhivaniju pokojashhihsja semjan [A guide to germinating dormant seeds]. – L.: Nauka, 1985. – 348 s. (In Rus.)

7. Razmnozhenie rastenij / pod red. A. Tuguda. [Plant propagation, ed. A. Tuguda] – M.: Astel', 2005. – 322 s. (In Rus.)

8. Shagova L.I., Budantsev A.L., Orlova T.A. Rastitel’nye resursy Rossii: Dikorastushhie tsvetkovye rasteniya, ikh komponentniy sostav i biologicheskaya aktivnost’ T. 3. Semeystva Fabaceae – Apiaceae [Plant resources of Russia: Wild flowering plants, their component composition and biological activity V. 3. Fabaceae – Apiaceae families]. Ed. by A.L. Budantsev. M. – SPb: Tov-vo nauchn. izd. KMK, 2010: 601 pp. (In Rus.)

9. Savinov I.A., Solomonova E.V., Trusov N.A., Simakov G.A. Botanicheskaja ocenka lekarstvennogo potenciala drevogubcev (Celastrus L.) [Botanical evaluation of medicinal potential of bittersweets (Celastrus L.)]. Izvestija TSHA, 2022, vyp. 6. – S. 13-30. DOI: 10.26897/0021-342H-2022-6-13-30. (In Rus.)

10. Savinov I.A., Solomonova E.V., Trusov N.A., Simakov G.A. Produktivnost’ listovoy massy Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. (Celastraceae) v usloviyakh Moskovskogo regiona [Productivity of leaf mass of Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. (Celastraceae) in the conditions of the Moscow region]. Vestnik KrasGAU. 2022; 12. – С. 49-52. DOI: 10.36718/1819-4036-2022-12-49-53. (In Rus.)

11. Trusov N.A., Sozonova L.I. Cvetenie i razvitie ploda u Celastrus L. v kollekcii GBS RAN [Flowering and fruit development in Celastrus L. in collection of the Main Botanical Garden RAS]. Trudy Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Ser. Biologicheskaja: Botanicheskie sady. Problemy introdukcii. Tomsk: Izd-vo Tom. Un-ta, 2010. T. 274. S. 384-386. (In Rus.)

12. Shreter A.I. Lekarstvennaja flora sovetskogo Dal'nego Vostoka. [Medicinal flora of the Soviet Far East]. M.: Medicina, 1975. 328 s. (In Rus.)

13. Shul’gina V.V. Rod Drevogubets, ili Krasnopuzyrnik – Celastrus L. [Bittersweet or stafftree – Celastrus L.]. Ed. By Sokolov S.Ya. Derev’ya i kustarniki SSSR. 1958; 4: 391–397. (In Rus.)

14. Dirr M.A., Heuser C.W. The reference manual of woody plant propagation: from seed to tissue culture. – Portland: Timber Press, 1987. – 412 p.