The Contemporary Facts Towards In Vitro Production of the Plant-derived Medicinal Metabolites

Plants are active biochemical factories of a vast group of secondary metabolites (SMs) and these SMs are indeed a basic source of various commercial pharmaceutical drugs. From the prehistoric time, plants have been used for therapeutic resolutions. Medicinal and aromatic plants are the biogenic pond of diverse forms of SMs, which results in their overexploitation. There is an increasing need for the natural phytochemicals from plants for sustainable and economical value forces their mass production through in vitro plant tissue culture (PTC) methods. A vast quantity of medicinal plants and their metabolites have been developed by in vitro culture techniques in a small time period related to conventional methods. In vitro plant cell cultures assist in a potential role in the commercial production of SMs. The novel prime practices of in vitro techniques facilitate transgenic cultures and enlighten the understanding lane of regulation and expression of biosynthetic pathways. SMs have composite chemical alignment and are created in response to different forms of stress to accomplish various physiological tasks in the plant host system. They are immensely utilized in pharmaceutical industries, dietary supplements, cosmetics, fragrances, dyes, flavors, etc. SMs are also termed specialised metabolites, secondary products, toxins or natural products; these are basically organic compounds produced by plants and are not directly involved in the growth and development of the plant. Instead, they usually intervene with ecological interactions and conceivably produce selective support for the plant host by increasing its survivability or productivity. Few SMs are specific for a narrow set of plant species within a phylogenetic group. SMs habitually play a vital role in the defense systems of plants against herbivory and other interspecies defences. Human beings uses SMs mainly for medicines, pigments, flavourings and recreational drugs. Prolonged use of these SMs in several industrial areas still needs to be focused to enhance the fabrication by using in vitro PTC practices and optimizing their largescale fabrication using bioreactors. The present book chapter intends to highlight the rationale of the in vitro production of SMs from medicinal plants and their progress in the modern epoch for the mass production facts toward the step of commercial and economical forte.

Keywords: Bioreactor, Micropropagation, Phytochemicals, Secondary metabolites.