Chapter Nine - Radiation-processed polysaccharides and the enrichment of medicinally imperative bioactive compounds in plants, a review

Abstract

A miscellany of the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been tasted and tested for their valuable use in food and medicine and decades of research has elucidated their imperative role in the maintenance of finest human health. The mounting interest in MAPs is endorsed to their bioactive compounds with diverse chemical scaffolds and miscellaneous medicinal significance and their aptitude of providing economical usage which is a component of the movement in the direction of greener economics and healthy life styles. However, the percentage of such bioactive medicinally imperative compounds, being scanty, has, however, led to the over-exploitation of such MAPs. Different procedures have been implemented to amplify the content of these sparse bioactive plant products, among which, radiation-processed polysaccharides, notably carrageenan, chitosan and sodium alginate, because of eco-friendly nature as well as elicitor effect, constitute one of the most favorable option in boosting the sanguinity of the environmentalists as well as cultivators. The present article is an attempt to encompass the role of radiation-derived oligosaccharides in plant growth promotion and production of economically priceless bioactive compounds. The current article also includes the regulatory effect of such oligosaccharides on carbon and nutrient assimilation in addition to the signal transduction cascades concerned with the elicitation of such odoriferous bioactive compounds capable of remedial of many lethal ailments.