Development of a Process for the Production of Undifferentiated Plant Cells in Bioreactors for the Extraction of Secondary Metabolites of Industrial Interest

Plants still directly supply many bioactive molecules for which it is not economically feasible to synthesize. The supply of these molecules from plants that occur naturally or are grown outside of Canada can be greatly impaired by a disruption along the supply chain, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for some of these molecules exceeds the global supply, creating shortages and leading to the prioritization of bioproduction to fill the gap. However, many of these species are of tropical origin, which slows down their growth cycle in the Canadian climate, thus limiting the profitability of local production.

Innovative production methods exist, such as bioreactor production from plant cells grown in liquid medium, an essential method for the production of these molecules that cannot be synthesized. As this method is rarely used on an industrial scale and for plant molecules of interest, the project will aim to develop and optimize production methods specific to plant cells in order to establish an industrial production, extraction and purification process. The bioreactor production will allow Viridios to provide a continuous supply of a portfolio of molecules of interest for multiple industries, including food supplements and nutraceuticals.