Kinetics of two-liquid-phase Taxus cuspidata cell culture for production of Taxol

The effects of different organic solvents (paraffin, organic acid, alcohol and eater) and their volumetric fractions on the cell growth and Taxol production were studied in two-liquid-phase and the two-stage culture. A kinetic model, incorporated the effects of the toxicity of organic solvents was developed for two-liquid-phase culture of Taxus cuspidata in the two-stage Taxol production. The results showed that the proposed kinetic model could fit the experimental data satisfactorily. The results also showed that Taxol production could reach the optimal value when 10-log P was in the range of 2 to 5 and the volumetric fraction of the organic solvents at the corresponding the highest Taxol production should be lower when 10-log P was high. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.