Partial replacement of serum by vegetable proteins in BHK culture medium

Eighty per cent of the bovine serum added to the medium (6M), used to propagate baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells in submerged culture, was successfully replaced by several commercially available vegetable proteins or their hydrolysates, derived from soy, pea-bean and gluten. However, complete replacement of the serum by any of these additives to achieve growth was found to be impossible. Lactalbumin hydrolysate and tryptose phosphate broth, which are the main amino-acid suppliers in the 6M medium, could not be replaced by any tested vegetable protein. Large-scale propagation of BHK cells (in both batch and semi-continuous systems), using a medium containing 1% bovine serum and 0.05% vegetable proteins, was successfully carried out. Using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, no morphological differences were observed in BHK cells grown in the control medium and in media containing vegetable proteins.