Production of Saponins by Tissue Culture

Field cultivation of Ginseng is laborious and requires more than four years and special precautions to avoid direct sunshine and infection. Also, because of soil depletion, Ginseng cannot be cultivated on the same plot for at least 10 —15 years. Hence tissue culture of this medicinal plant has been attempted by several groups in Japan, Korea, U.S.A. and China as a means for producing biologically active principles on a manufacturing scale. 

Furuya et al. 78) who investigated Ginseng tissue culture under various conditions in ajar fermenter succeeded in large scale production of callus which contains 5 — 10 times as much Ginseng saponins as commerical Ginseng roots. 

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Sbasbi B. Mabato and Saraswati Garai, Triterpenoid Saponins Introduction Isolation Structure Elucidation Biological Activity Production of Saponins by Tissue Culture Future Possibilities Reports of New Triterpenoid Saponins Leena A. Otsomaa and Ari M.R Koskinen, Synthesis of 6-Deoxyamino Sugars ... 

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