Kinetics of growth and nutrient consumption in a culture of Trichosanthes kirilowii hairy root

Ribosome inactiviting protein can be obtained by culturing Trichosanthes kirilowii hairy root. The growth and the nutrient consumption in the culture of Trichosanthes kirilowii hairy root were studied for various inoculum concentrations. The medium pH and conductivity were measured during the culture process. Though the inoculum concentrations differed, the harvested dry weight in the experiment groups had no obvious difference. However, the ratio of harvested dry weight to the initial dry weight decreased as the inoculum concentration increased. The results show that hairy roots with more inocula has higher nutrient consumption rate. The growth of hairy roots closely correlated with the consumption of sugar, nitrate, and phosphate. The log phase of the hairy root growth was about 12 d later than the high speed phase of nutrient consumption. The medium conductivity decreased linearly relative to the biomass accumulation.