Aerva lanata L. with enhanced aervine content can be used as an alternative source of antioxidative and antibacterial compounds through in vitro cultures. This study discusses a new method of aervine production using elicitors in A. lanata adventitious shoot culture. The elicitation of aervine in suspension culture was tested using five elicitors at different concentrations, and the most effective enhancement was recorded on the 20th d of treatment. Multiple shoot development was recorded for nodal explants (5.33 +/- 1.15) in the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 1.0 mg L-1 benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.5 mg L-1 kinetin (KIN). Among the elicitors, chitosan (50 mg L-1) and NaH2PO4 (25 mg L-1) produced a 1.26- and 0.79-fold increase in the aervine content than the control. The elicited extract was subjected to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis to confirm the presence of aervine and the amount was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Aervine showed superior scavenging activity in DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) (IC50 of 42.40 +/- 0.79 mu g mL(-1)) and ABTS (2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) (43.73 +/- 0.17) assays. In addition, it showed a prominent antibacterial activity against pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Proteus vulgaris. For the first time, this study revealed the antibacterial properties of enhanced aervine content from shooting culture.