Effect of carbon dioxide on cell growth and saponin production in suspension cultures of Panax ginseng

Abstract

The effects of carbon dioxide supply within the range of 1-5 % (along with purified air), on cell culture of Panax ginseng were investigated in a balloon type bubble bioreactor containing 4 dm3 of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 7.0 mg dm-3 indolebutyric acid, 0.5 mg dm-3 kinetin and 30 g dm-3 sucrose. A 1 % CO2 supply was found beneficial for the production of cell mass; however, increasing CO2 concentration to 2.5 and 5 % decreased the biomass accumulation. CO2 enrichment was not beneficial for saponin production and 1, 2.5, and 5 % CO2 supply resulted in decrease in saponin accumulation up to 11.6, 19.5, and 50.6 %, respectively.