Isolation and production of artemisinin and stigmasterol in hairy root cultures of Artemisia annua

Scaled-up hairy root culture of Artemisia annua L. was established in three-liter Erlenmeyer flask. Both artemisinin and stigmasterol that derive from the common precursors of isopentenyl diphosphate and farnesyl pyrophosphate were isolated from hairy roots. The production rate of artemisinin isolated by column chromatography from hairy root cultures was 0.54% (mg.gDW⁻¹). Stigmasterol was identified by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The production of stigmasterol isolated by column chromatography from hairy root cultures was 108.3% (mg.gDW⁻¹). In hairy root cultures, the production rate of stigmasterol was estimated to be 201 times greater than that of artemisinin. Our results suggest that investigation of secondary metabolites may provide a new insight to study artemisinin production in hairy root cultures. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.