In Vitro Cultures for the Production of Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

Plants’ secondary metabolism is an important source of medicinal and industrial products. Even though natural ecosystems are still the most important font of this kind of substance, excessive harvesting of spontaneous flora can act as a direct cause of biodiversity loss. Different technologies are used for in vitro production which, in addition to being useful for safeguarding biodiversity, make available to industry substances that are difficult to produce in vivo. Moreover, the growing demand for secondary metabolites encourages the use of new biotechnology tools to create new, more productive in vitro transgenic plant cultures.