Identification and production of flavonoids in a cell suspension culture of Scutellaria baicalensis G.

A high yielding cell line of Scutellaria baicalensis G. has successfully been developed to produce flavonoids. Major components of the flavonoids were identified as baicalin and wogonin-7-O-glucuronic acid by a series of instrumental analyses using UV, IR, MASS, and NMR. After 12 days in suspension culture, the cell growth reached 14 g (DW)/l, and baicalin and wogonin-7-O-glucuronic acid were obtained in concentrations of 2.9 g/l and 1.07 g/l, respectively. The culture temperature was found to be an important parameter for improving production yield of the flavonoids. The yield of baicalin was observed to increase to 4.2 g/l by shifting the temperature from 30 °C to 25 °C after 72 h of suspension culture.