Biotechnological Production of plant Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

Biotechnology can be considered to be originated from prehistoric times, when microorganisms were already used for processes like fermentation. In fact, the earliest use of biotechnology might have been started with lactic acid fermentation by Louis Pasteur in 1857. Then, discovery of penicillin from Penicillium sp. in 1929 by Alexander Fleming led to large scale production of this antibiotic during World War II using cultures of this microfungus, which refers to another early application of biotechnological methods. Later on, biotechnology has become a very important tool in every aspect of plant research and is now extensively applied to production of secondary metabolites from many plant species. The field of plant biotechnology has gained a lot of attraction from scientists due to its importance in pharmaceutical, agricultural, forestry, food, and some other sectors. Especially, plant cell and tissue culture techniques are important in vitro precise methods using various plant parts applicable in large-scale. Plant biotechnology is such an immense scope varying from traditional plant breeding to genetically-engineered plants, which is out of the borders of the current eBook. In this eBook, the chapters will cover biotechnological studies performed on different groups of plant secondary metabolites such as terpenes, phenolics, coumarins, anthocyanins, iridoids, and cardiac glycosides. Some of the chapters will also mention about biotransformation aspects on several bioactive compound classes. © 2012 Bentham Science Publishers. All rights reserved.