A cell suspension culture was developed from calli of grape rootstock 41B in order to study the bioproduction of resveratrol. While 41B grape cultures produced no resveratrol, methyljasmonate (MeJA) elicitor treatment activated its production in a dose dependent manner. The concentration of 0.2 mM MeJA was optimal for efficient production and high accumulation of resveratrol (150 mg/L) in flask experiments. Microscopic analysis of cells monitored for viability showed that MeJA elicitor triggered expression of resveratrol fluorescence within the cells. These results led to scale-up of the culture in a 2 L stirred bioreactor where a resveratrol production of 209 mg/L being secreted into the liquid medium, corresponding to 90% of the total production. Liquid/liquid extraction of the culture medium and a solid/liquid extraction of the cells showed that other stilbenes were also produced. For the first time, trans-epsilon-viniferin, trans-delta-viniferin, and a trans-3-methylviniferin as well as trans-piceatannol were identified in a 2 L bioreactor cell cultures of grapevine. Furthermore, a one step FPLC method was developed for the purification of resveratrol and epsilon-viniferin. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.