Abstract: In Rhodiola sachalinensis A. Bot. cell cultures, low yields of salidroside was supposed to be associated with the low efficiency of glucosylation reaction at the stationary phase of cell growth, when large amounts of the substrate, aglycon tyrosol, were accumulated. Considering the activity of tyrosol glucosyhransferase being the highest at the exponential growth phase, the author added exogenous tyrosol into the cultures at this time so as to produce salidroside through biotransformation. The effects of tyrosol concentration, the way of tyrosol addition as well as the cell density on the transformation rate and salidroside yield were investigated. It was found that the transformation rate attained 95 % after cells were incubated in the medium containing 1 mmol/L tyrosol for 24 h. Excess high concentrations of tyrosol in medium ( > 3 mmol/L) caused inhibition of transformation rate and cell growth. By 3 repeated additions of tyrosol in low concentrations, the salidroside yields of 1 320 mg/L, 1 740 mg/L and 1 980 mg/L to the cell densities of 6 g DW/L, 12 g DW/L and 18 g DW/L were obtained respectively.

Key words: Rhodiola sachalinensis, salidroside, tyrosol, biotransformation