Scale-up production of puerarin from hairy roots of Pueraria phaseoloides in an airlift bioreactor.

Hairy roots of the Chinese herb, Pueraria phaseoloides, obtained from leaf explants and transformed with the Agrobacterium rhizogenes, were cultured in 2.5 l airlift bioreactors for three weeks. Puerarin accumulated at 5,570 microg g(-1) dry wt, which is near 200 times as much as in 250 ml flask cultures. In addition, puearin was exuded into the nutrient medium at final concentrations higher than in the hairy roots themselves.