Assessment of various carbon sources and nutrient feeding strategies for Panax ginseng cell culture

Ginseng (root of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) cells were cultivated on medium supplemented with various carbohydrates including sucrose, glucose, and fr uctose, at initial concentrations ranging from 10 to 110 g/L. Sucrose was s hown to be the superior carbon source to the monosaccharides for ginseng ce ll growth and the optimal concentration was between 30 and 50 g/L. An incre ase in the initial concentration within this range increased the maximum ce ll density and growth index significantly, whereas much higher concentratio ns inhibited cell growth. Feeding of sucrose and some other medium componen ts during the growth (fed-batch mode) was more effective in enhancing the c ell growth and biomass productivity, increasing the growth index by more th an 60-70% and biomass productivity by more than 50%.