Conservation of biodiversity of highly important medicinal plants of India through tissue culture technology- A review

Abstract

According to the Red List of threatened species 44 plant species are critically endangered, 113 endangered and 87 vulnerable (IUCN, 2000). Many medicinal plants are also in trouble from over harvesting and destruction of habitat. Population growth, urbanization and the unrestricted collection of medicinal plants from the wild is resulting in an over-exploitation of natural resources. Therefore, the management of traditional medicinal plant resources has become a matter of urgency. An ever increasing demand of uniform medicinal plants based medicines warrants their mass propagation through plant tissue culture strategy. Tissue culture technology is potent and has opened extensive areas of research for biodiversity conservation. Tissue culture protocols have been developed for a wide range of medicinal plants, which includes endangered, rare and threatened plant species. Some of these medicinal plants are Saussaurea lappa, Picorrhiza kurroa, Ginkgo biloba, Swertia chirata, Gymnema sylvestre, Tinospora cordifolia, Salaca oblonga, Holostemma, Celastrus paniculata,, Oroxylum indicum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Tylophora indica, Bacopa mooniera, Rauwolfia serpentina.