Abstract Cultured cells of Mallotus japonicus converted exogenous o-hydroxybenzoic acid into its O-glucoside after a lag period of 8 hr during which time the aglycone was taken up rapidly by the cells, partly excreted and then re-absorbed. The glucosylation of the aglycone into oO-β-d-glucosylbenzoic acid began almost simultaneously with the induction of glucosyltransferase activity, and ca 78% of the aglycone administered was transformed ...