Volumetric productivity of camptothecin from the suspension culture of the endophyte Fusarium solani was enhanced up to similar to 152 fold (from 0.19 mu g l(-1) d(-1) to 28.9 mu g l(-1) d(-1)) under optimized fermentation conditions including initial pH (6.0), temperature (32 degrees C) and agitation speed (80 rpm) with (5% (v/v)) ethanol as medium component. Among various elicitors and precursors studied, tryptamine (0.5 mM) as precursor and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (0.075 mM) as an elicitor added on day 6 of the cultivation period resulted in maximum enhancement of camptothecin concentration (up to 4.5 and 3.4-fold, respectively). These leads provide immense scope for further enhancement in camptothecin productivity at bioreactor level. The cytotoxicity analysis of the crude camptothecin extract from the fungal biomass revealed its high effectiveness against colon and mammary gland cancer cell lines. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.