Yellow and red pigment production by cell cultures of Carthamus tinctorius in a bioreactor

In this work, we first investigated the effects of sucrose concentration and light on pigment production by cell cultures of Carthamus tinctorius L. (Safflower). In addition, we investigated yellow pigment accumulation in a two-stage bioreactor culture system using balloon- and column- type bioreactors. A 10-L balloon-type airlift bioreactor was used for the growth phase of cell suspension culture, while a 5-L column-type airlift bioreactor was used for pigment production. MS medium (1/2 strength) supplemented with 10.75 mu M NAA, 0.92 mu M kinetin, and 3% sucrose was found to be optimal for cell growth, while modified White medium containing 1.07 mu M NAA and 18.40 mu M kinetin resulted in relatively high pigment formation. Further experiments showed that a high concentration of sucrose (8-12%), as well as light increased the production of pigments. In addition, the content of yellow pigment was much higher than the content of red pigment.