Cultivation of root cultures of Panax ginseng in different bioreactors and in temporary immersion — Comparison of growth and saponin production

Abstract

Different systems of large-scale cultivation of multiple adventitious roots of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer were compared to cultivation in Erlenmeyer flasks. Adventitious roots were isolated from plantlets regenerated from somatic embryos and cultivated separately in liquid media. Multiplication of adventitious roots was performed in liquid Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) medium containing 3% sucrose, and 24.6 µmol indole-3-butyric acid. The highest saponin content of 28.51 mg g⁻¹ of dry weight was found in adventitious roots cultivated in the RITA^® temporary immersion system (TIS). The best production of biomass was achieved in RITA^® vessels and standard Erlenmeyer flasks placed on rotary shaker, followed by the Applikon 3-litre bioreactor and a simple airlift reactor. Saponin production in Erlenmeyer flasks was 10.07 mg g⁻¹ of the dry weight while the production in the Applikon 3-litre bioreactor was only 3.60 mg g⁻¹. Other bioreactor systems tested showed neither significant saponin production nor high biomass production.