Production of ginseng and its bioactive components in plant cell culture: current technological and applied aspects.

Hairy root culture of Ginseng (Panax ginseng) was established after roots were induced on callus following infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes The transformed cultures of ginseng could be subcultured as an axenic root culture in the absence of phytohormones, and grew with extensive lateral branches more rapidly than the ordinary cultured roots induced by hormonal control from ginseng callus The hairy roots synthesized the same saponins, ginsenosides, as those of the native root, up to about 24 times in the quantity, and up to about 2 times in comparison with that of the ordinary cultured roots, on dry weight basis

Saponin production by cultures of Panax ginseng transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes.

Ginsenoside production by hairy root cultures of Panax ginseng: influence of temperature and light quality

A pilot-scale culture of multiple adventitious roots of ginseng was established using a balloon-type bubble bioreactor. Adventitious roots (2 cm) induced from callus were cultured in plastic Petri dishes having 20 ml of solid Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) medium containing 3% sucrose, 0.15% gelrite, and 24.6 μM indole-3-butric acid. An average of 29 secondary multiple adventitious roots were produced after 4 weeks of culture. These secondary roots were elongated on the same medium, reaching a length of 5 cm after 6 weeks of culture. A time course study revealed that maximum yields in 5-l and 20-l bioreactors were approximately 500 g and 2.2 kg at day 42 with 60 g and 240 g inoculations, respectively. Cutting twice during the culture increased the total amount of biomass produced. The root biomass in a 20-l balloon-type bubble bioreactor was 2.8 kg at harvest with 240 g of inoculum after 8 weeks of culture. The total saponin content obtained from small-scale and pilot-scale balloon type bubble bioreactors was around 1% based on dry weight. Inoculation of 500 g fresh weight of multiple adventitious roots into a 500 l balloon-type bubble bioreactor with cutting at 4 and 6 weeks after inoculation produced approximately 74.8 kg of multiple roots. The ginsengnoside profiles of these multiple adventitious roots were similar to profiles of field-grown ginseng roots when analyzed by HPLC.

Pilot-scale culture of adventitious roots of ginseng in a bioreactor system

Elicitation of different Panax ginseng transformed root phenotypes for an improved ginsenoside production

Two high saponin-producing cell lines were selected from the original callus induced in 1967 and maintained in good state. For saponin production and growth in two cell lines, the comparison of static and suspension cultures, static cultures in the dark or in the light and rotary or reciprocal shaking cultures were made in detail. It was shown that the growth in rotary shaking cultures were 1.8 times higher than in reciprocal cultures, while the saponin production was almost the same, and the most effective hormonal condition was the combination of indole-3-butyric acid with kinetin. The saponin content per fresh weight was almost the same as that of the crude drug, whereas that per dry weight was 4 times higher.

Saponin production in cell suspension cultures of Panax ginseng.

From callus cultures ofPanax ginseng C.A. Mayer, shoots and roots were systematically formed at a high rate (in all flasks) under optimal culture conditions. The chemical constituents and the morphological structures of the differentiated plantlets closely resembled those of the native plants.

H. Oda

Papers

Saponin production in cell suspension cultures of Panax ginseng.

Formation of plantlets from callus cultures of ginseng ( Panax ginseng )