Is it possible for cells to produce secondary metabolites before the stationary phase?
Plant cell culture is characterized by slow growth and low and unstable ability to synthesize secondary metabolites. Studies on the mass culture of plant cells show that the accumulation of secondary metabolites is positively correlated with the differentiation degree of cultured cells. Callus culture has the structure of primary differentiation or partial differentiation, which can accumulate more products, but it is extremely unfavorable for continuous production. However, in the fast-growing and highly dispersed cell suspension culture system, the environment in which cells live has neither polarity nor gradient. Although biomass can increase rapidly, more products can only be accumulated in the relatively static period of cell growth. These phenomena show that slow-growing, differentiated or partially differentiated tissues or tissue blocks can accumulate more secondary products. Flowers, fruits, mature leaves and mature roots are all important places for the accumulation of secondary metabolites. The cells that make up these structures do not divide rapidly, but the degree of differentiation is high, and the products are accumulated through circulation. Beet produced by cell culture is a good example.