A total of 19 different species belonging to the genera Asperula, Galium, Rubia and Sherardia were taken into cell culture. All species, differentiated plants as well as tissue cultures, produced anthraquinones in differing yields. Cells were grown in a basal medium containing 7 differently substituted phenoxyacetic acids, as well as 1-naphthaleneacetic acid, all at 10(-5) M concentration. The effectors supporting highest pigment production in each culture were selected and, in the presence of the selected effector, the sucrose content of the medium was then varied from 1 to 14%. Anthraquinone formation was thus optimized for each individual species, but no general pattern, either of effector quality or of sucrose concentration, emerged. In 17 out of 19 cases secondary product formation in optimized cell cultures surpassed that of differentiated plants. The highest anthraquinone yield was observed with Galium verum (1.7 g/l) and the highest concentration achieved with Rubia fruticosa (20% of dry weight).