Effect of polymeric adsorbents on the production of sanguinarine by Papaver somniferum cell cultures

The suitability of adsorbent polymeric resins, Amberlite XAD-4 and XAD-7 (Rohm and Hass, Inc.), was investigated for the accumulation of sanguinarine from Papaver somniferum cell cultures. The adsorption and desorption of sanguinarine from aqueous solution was most effective with XAD-7. In addition to sanguinarine, the resins were found to absorb growth regulators and vitamins from the culture medium. Growth inhibition was overcome by delaying for approximately 4 days resin addition after cell inoculation in fresh medium. Resin addition (5% wt/vol) to actively growing uneclicited cultures led to increases in sanguinarine production and release of 30% to 40% and 60%, respectively. The addition of resins to elicited cultures led to increases in alkaloid production of up to 50% to 85% with similar increases in alkaloid release as observed for nonelicited cells. Overall yield of sanguinarine increased from 21 mg . g biomass dry weight(-1) (dw) for elicited cultures to more than 39 mg . gdw(-1) when elicitation was combined with resin addition. Higher quantities of resin (10% to 20% wt/vol) increased marginally the release of sanguinarine into the medium, and on the resin, up to 85% of total production. The use of resin appears promesing for the development of a bioprocess for sanguinarine production by cultured plant cells. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.