Manipulation of the heterogeneity of ginsenosides with different pharmacological activities was attempted by adding methyl jasmonate (MJA) or dihydro-methyl jasmonate (HMJA) to suspension cultures of a high-saponin-producing cell line of Panax notoginseng. Compared with HMJA, MJA not only increased ginsenoside content to a large degree but also significantly altered the ratio of Rb to Rg groups of ginsenosides. The ginsenoside Rd was not detected in either control cultures (without MJA addition) or when HMJA was added, but interestingly was detected upon supplementation of MJA. By increasing the concentration of MJA added from 0 to 500 muM, the ratio of Rb to Rg groups also increased from 0.49 +/- 0.06 to 2.49 +/- 0.06 (on day 15). The cells exhibited their maximal ginsenoside content when 200 muM MJA was added. The maximal Rb, content was 3.15 +/- 0.08 mg/100 mg DW (day 15), which was about ninefold that of the control. The maximal Rg, and Re contents were 0.90 +/- 0.01 (day 12) and 0.80 +/- 0.01 (day 15) mg/100 mg DNA, respectively, which were about twofold that of the control. The information obtained will be useful for the exploitation of the diversity of biopharmaceutical molecules and for the large-scale bioprocessing of heterogeneous products.