Advantages of Biotransformation - 1. It relieves pressure of over exploitation/threat of extinction of natural populations of plant species, e.g., L. erythrorhizon.
2. In cases where plant material is limited in supply, e.g. Trichosanthes, and/or the plants are slow growing, e.g., L. erythrorhizon, cell cultures offer a system of continuous supply.
3. In many cases, cultured cells produce higher biochemical levels than the differentiated plant tissues, e.g., 20% (on dry weight basis) shikonin by Lithospermum cell cultures compared to 1.5% in roots.
4. Plant cells carry out many bio transformations.
5. Cells can be readily separated from the medium by simple filtration, and stored at -30°C till the biochemicals are extracted.