Many different natural materials are used in complementary medicine. Among natural products, herbal materials are used quite a lot. Centaurea rigida Willd. was used as material in this study. The antioxidant and oxidant potential of the plant was determined. The aerial parts of the plant sample were extracted with ethanol in a soxhlet device. Antioxidant and oxidant potentials were measured with Rel Assay kits. As a result of the studies, the total antioxidant value of the plant was determined as 3.522±0.166, the total oxidant value as 15.424±0.281 and the oxidative stress index as 0.440±0.020. It was determined that the plant has antioxidant potential, but its oxidant values are high. As a result, it was determined that C. rigida could be used as a natural antioxidant source.

Sorbitol is an important source of abiotic stress that is used to increase osmolality in cell cultures. It increases the antioxidant enzymes of defense catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the stress state of cells. Sorbitol plays an important role in stimulating these enzymes in cells and increasing phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL) activity. The aim of this study was to apply increasing doses of sorbitol elicitor to cell suspension cultures to determine the changes in cell number, viability, dry weight, and camphor content. In vitro plantlets were obtained from plant seeds and stem segments of these plants were used as explant source. Cell cultures were established after callus formation. Then, 0 (control), 5, 25, and 50 g L-1 sorbitol was dissolved in distilled water and cultured. Samples were taken three times in total, starting from day 1 to day 3. The content of camphor was detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Cell number, viability,dry weight, and camphor content increased significantly with increasing doses of sorbitol compared to sampling times. Compared to the initial culture, the amount of camphor increased by 40% at the 5 g L-1 dose, 82% at the 25 g L-1 dose, and 154% at the 50 g L-1 dose. In A. gypsicola cell cultures, increasing doses of sorbitol have clearly demonstrated the secondary metabolite accumulation and its positive effect on cell growth.