Production of sanguinarine by elicited plant cell culture III. Immobilized bioreactor cultures

Abstract

Papaver somniferum cells were surface-immobilized and grown efficiently and maintained highly viable in 6-1 modified airlift bioreactors. These immobilized cultures were elicited with chitin in the presence of XAD-7 adsorbent polymeric resin, in parallel with control suspension cultures carried out in flasks, for sanguinarine production. Results showed production levels of the larger cultures operated under apparently non limiting conditions of up to 80 mg l −1 or 0.52% dw after 600 h, of which 70–80% was found in the resin. These productions were 3- to 14-times lower than obtained from control cultures. This poor performance of immobilized cultures is explained by dissolved oxygen limitations within the biofilm as well as by various other restrictive factors associated to the culture system used in relation to the elicitation process, including the inherent physiological heterogeneity of the plant cell biofilm and the insoluble nature of the elicitor used which may have hindered its penetration of the immobilized biomass.