Hairy root cultures of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino: a promising approach for the production of gypenosides as an alternative of ginseng saponins.

Hairy root cultures of Gynostemma pentaphyllum were established by infecting leaf discs with Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The dry biomass of hairy roots grown in MS medium for 49 days was 7.3 g l(-1) with a gypenoside content of 38 mg g(-1) dry wt.