Biotechnological methods for the production of ginsenosides

Demand for compounds from natural sources are increasing day by day. Ginsenosides are secondary metabolites, belonging to triterpenoid saponin groups which are present in Panax species. Ginsenosides possess wide range of therapeutic activities which includes anti-aging, anti-oxidative, anti-cancerous, etc. Cultivation of plants containing ginsenosides requires a long duration of time, ranging from five to seven years, along with extensive efforts for controlling the quality despite of the unfavorable environmental conditions. Isolation and production of ginsenosides is also time-consuming and not feasible, when exploiting the conventional methods. Therefore, an alternative method is required for its enhanced production. Biotechnological methods such as shoot culture, cell suspension culture, root culture and hairy root culture are largely being executed for enhanced production of ginsenosides. Bioreactors are also utilized for scaling up the production of ginsenosides. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive information about pharmaceutical applications of ginsenosides, different biotechnological approaches (shoot, root, hairy root and callus/cell suspension culture) that are used for the production of ginsenosides and scale up strategies for large scale production. Information about different in vitro systems has also been compiled after a panoramic literature survey and last twenty years data has been taken into consideration for this review.