Open AccessToward enhanced hyperforin production in St. John's wort root cultures
Author(s) -
Gaid Mariam,
Grosch JanHendrik,
Möller Steve,
Beerhues Ludger,
Krull Rainer
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
engineering in life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1618-2863
pISSN - 1618-0240
DOI - 10.1002/elsc.201900043
Subject(s) - hyperforin , hypericum perforatum , sucrose , food science , fructose , chemistry , fermentation , biomass (ecology) , biochemistry , botany , biology , pharmacology , agronomy
During the past decades, several trials targeted a stable, sustainable and economic production of St. John's wort ( Hypericum perforatum ) extract. The value of this extract stems from its use to treat depression and skin irritation due to its hyperforin content. Previously, hyperforin‐forming in vitro root cultures were established. Here, detailed growth and production kinetics have been analyzed over 40 days of cultivation. In the first 10 days, sucrose was completely hydrolyzed to glucose and fructose. The ammonium consumption supported the increase in the biomass and hyperforin production. When sucrose was replaced with glucose/fructose, the linear growth phase started 6 days earlier and resulted in a higher space‐time‐yield. The maximum hyperforin production was 0.82 mg L −1 day −1 , which was 67 % higher than in the sucrose‐supplemented standard cultivation. Buffering the sucrose‐supplemented medium with phosphate caused a 2.7‐fold increase in the product to biomass yield coefficient. However, the combination of monosaccharides and buffering conditions did not cause an appreciable improvements in the production performance of the shake flask approaches. A potential scalability from flask to lab‐scale stirred bioreactors has been demonstrated. The results obtained offer a basis for a scalable production of hyperforin and a sustainable source for a tissue culture‐based phytomedicine.