In vitro adventitious roots: a non-disruptive technology for the production of phytoconstituents on the industrial scale

Abstract

The current trends of consumer-driven demands for natural therapeutics and the availability of evidence-based phytopharmaceuticals from traditional knowledge has once again brought the medicinal plants into forefront of health. In 2019, World Health Organization global report on traditional and complementary medicine has also substantiated the revival of herbal medicine including its convergence with conventional medicine for the management and prevention of diseases. It means these industries need plenty of plant materials to meet the unprecedented demands of herbal formulations. However, it is pertinent to mention here that around 70–80% medicinal plants are sourced from the wild and most of such highly acclaimed plants are listed under Rare, Endangered and Threatened species by IUCN. Additionally, over 30% traditional health formulations are based on underground plant parts, which lead to the uprooting of plants. Overharvesting from limited plant populations, meager conventional cultivation and a rising fondness for natural products exerting enormous pressure on natural habitats. Therefore, the nondestructive means of phytochemical production employing biotechnological tools could be used for sustainable production and consumption patterns. In recent years, a number of reports described the use of adventitious roots induced under in vitro conditions for the extraction of phytochemicals on a sustainable basis. In this article, efforts are made to review recent developments in this area as well as understand the induction mechanisms of adventitious roots, their in vitro cultivation, probable factors that affect the growth and metabolite production, and assess the possibility of industrial scale production to meet the rising demands of natural herbs.

Keywords:

• Plant tissue culture
• metabolite
• induction
• fate transition
• auxin
• bioreactor

Acknowledgments

The art work conducted for the figures of this article by Mr. Pabitra Gain is highly appreciated by all authors. SB is thankful to CSIR for providing Raman Research Fellowship to get exposure in this area. SB also grateful to Prof KY Peak and Prof. SY Park, Division of Animal, Horticulture and Food Science, CBNU, Cheongju, South Korea for providing practical experience in the area of in vitro adventitious root cultivation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Financial support from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India is gratefully acknowledged.