Abstract: The medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus has been widely cultivated in Hainan province, China in an artificial way and now it was increasingly introduced to other regions, including Zhejiang province and Sichuan province. To reveal the organ- and region-specific properties of alkaloids accumulation in C.roseus seedlings, materials were collected from Zhejiang Fuyang and Hainan Wenchang, and then extracted for alkaloid analysis. The contents of vinblastine, vindoline and catharanthine were respectively measured in leaves, branching twigs, stems and their different combinations. The results showed that these three kinds of alkaloids accumulated in leaves were all higher in seedlings from Hainan than from Zhejiang. However, vinblastine in twigs was significantly higher in Zhejiang seedlings than in Hainan controls. The correlation analysis among vinblastine, vindoline and catharanthine in leaves, stems and twigs indicated that vindoline was positively correlated with catharanthine in leaves and twigs. Vinblastine, however, is significantly related to catharanthine in stems in a negative way. The present paper will provide useful information for region selection when considering artificial cultivation of C.roseus.

Key words: Catharanthus roseus, artificial cultivation, alkaloid accumulation, organ-specific