Abstract:

Saponins are a group of secondary metabolites occurring constitutively in most higher plant species, which have wide potential application in development of medicine, plant\|derived pesticides, health  products and nourishment. However, the contents of saponins are low and unstable in plants, which seriously affects the development and utilizations of these compounds. Therefore, regulation biosynthesis of saponins and improvement of its production have attracted more and more attention. This paper expounded the biosynthetic pathway, cultivation technology, genetic engineering, cell engineering and hairy root cultivation, and the research progress made in its synthesis of regulation. In addition, this paper also summarised the problems existing in this area and prospects the future research orientation.

Key words: saponins, biosynthesis, cultivation technology, cell engineering, genetic engineering, hairy root cultivation

摘要：

皂苷是一类组成型存在于大多数高等植物中的次生代谢物，在医药、植物源农药、保健品、营养品开发领域有广阔的应用前景，但皂苷在植物中含量低且不稳定，严重影响了皂苷类物质的开发利用。因此，调控皂苷生物合成、提高皂苷产量引起了越来越多的关注。综述了皂苷的生物合成途径，以及栽培技术、细胞工程、基因工程和毛状根培养对其合成的调控方面的研究进展，并针对该领域存在的问题以及未来的研究方向等进行了总结和展望。

关键词: 皂苷, 生物合成, 栽培技术, 细胞工程, 基因工程, 毛状根培养