Datura metel: in vitro production of tropane alkaloids.

Hairy root lines of Datura metel were established following infection of aseptic stem segments with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain A4 and cultured in hormone-free B5 solid medium. The growth and production of hyoscyamine and scopolamine (mg/g dry wt.) of these root cultures was encouraged by using B5 liquid medium with half-strength salts. In these culture conditions, the capacity of the highest productive root line 25 to excrete scopolamine into the culture medium rose from 8.7% to 70% when the permeabilizing agent Tween 20 was added for 24 h to the medium, after 2 and 4 weeks of culture. Using an airlift bioreactor (41) with modifications in order to increase root anchorage, the Tween 20 treatment encouraged both growth and alkaloid productivity of cultured root line 25. After 4 weeks their biomass yield was 2.3 mg/l/day and 0.84 mg/l/day of scopolamine was produced (70% extracellular). The scopolamine released into the culture medium was separated with an Amberlite XAD-2 column located in the media exit.