Effects of climate change on functional health foods and medicinal plants – a short review

Purpose:Medicinal plants are highly valuable to human livelihood and the medicinal plant wealth of India is well recognised. Studies on possible effects of climate change on medicinal plants are particularly significant due to their value within traditional systems of medicine and as economically useful plants. There is evidence that climate change is causing noticeable effects on life cycles and distribution of the plant species. However, the effect of climate change on secondary metabolites in plants is not well understood. A need for research to improve our understanding of climatic effects on medicinal plants is stressed in the present article. An attempt is being made here to review the work so far done on this important issue with Indian perspective.Method:Reviews have been collected from different sources related to medicinal plants.Result:The impact of climate change with respect to medicinal plants has been discussed under the following heads. Effect of elevated CO2 on productivity and quality, Effect on threats to medicinal plants species, Adaptation measures for climate change and global warming, Mitigation measures to reduce emission of CO2/GHGs, Future strategies for research.Conclusion:The impact of climate change on medicinal plants both cultivated and wild is very significant. The need of the hour is to have a focused research approach specially on the accumulation of secondary metabolites of health significance. The research on medicinal plants with respect to climate change is very sporadic and insignificant in comparison with other commercial crops. It is the high time that, these group of plants should not be left as they are potential sources of bio-molecules and neutraceuticles.

Like other plants, medicinal and aromatic plants have evolved several mechanisms to accommodate themselves under changing environmental conditions, so as to carry various functions necessary for their physiological processes. Several abiotic factors have hindered their growth and development. This has resulted in the production of repertoire of secondary metabolites in order to cope with stress and develop defensive means. Numerous environmental factors, like drought, temperature, light and salinity, trigger various signaling pathways that result in secondary metabolite production. These metabolites also serve as exceptional sources for flavours, food additives and industrially important pharmaceuticals. The secondary metabolite production also depends upon the genotype and developmental stage of the plant and upon various environmental factors during its period of growth. In vitro medicinal plant cultures are widely used for studying and enhancing the production of plant secondary metabolites. Also, the use of various molecular biology tools has facilitated the understanding of different pathways involved in the secondary metabolite production. This chapter summarizes the effect of various abiotic factors on the production of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants.

Environmental stresses, including temperature extremes (cold and heat), elevated CO2, and ozone, significantly influence the production of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). These environmental factors can lead to significant changes in the morphology, physiology, and biochemistry of plants. Natural resources, especially medicinal plants, have been used for centuries for their healing properties. PSMs, compounds with unique characteristics, often accumulate in response to stress, playing a crucial role in plant adaptation and stress tolerance. While environmental variables like temperature, light, water availability, humidity, CO2, and mineral nutrition are known to impact plant development and PSM synthesis, research on the effects of climate change on medicinal plants is limited compared to other commercial crops. This review examines the impact of various environmental factors on PSM synthesis in medicinal plants and identifies key knowledge gaps. We highlight the need for further research in this area and suggest potential directions for future studies to better understand and potentially manipulate the relationship between climate change, environmental stress, and the production of therapeutically valuable PSMs.

There has been increased use of herbal drugs in recent years. Because of increasing demand and wider use, it is essential that the quality of plant-based drugs should be assured prior to use. When heavy metals contaminate the plants from which herbal drugs are derived, they affect both plant growth characteristics and production of secondary plant metabolites. Plants exposed to heavy metal stress show changes in production of secondary metabolites. High levels of heavy metal contamination in medicinal or other plants may suppress secondary metabolite production. Alternatively, the presence of heavy metals in medicinal plants may stimulate production of bioactive compounds in many plant species. Moreover, some research results suggest that heavy metals may play an important role in triggering plant genes to alter the titers or nature of secondary plant metabolites, although the exact mechanism by which this happens remains unclear. Oxidative stress induced by heavy metals triggers signaling pathways that affect production of specific plant metabolites. In particular, reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated during heavy metal stress, may cause lipid peroxidation that stimulates formation of highly active signaling compounds capable of triggering production of bioactive compounds (secondary metabolites) that enhances the medicinal value of the plant. As usual, further research is needed to clarify the mechanism by which heavy metals induce responses that result in enhanced secondary metabolite production.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a part of the sunlight reaching Earth surface. The UV spectrum of solar radiation is by convention divided into three parts: UV-A: 310–400 nm, UV-B: 280–310 nm and UV-C: less than 280 nm. UV-B is the most energetic component reaching Earth surface because the stratospheric ozone layer effectively absorbs completely wavelengths below 290 nm. UV-B is an increasing threat due to increasing UV-B levels on Earth surface as a consequence of depletion of stratospheric O3. In general, the effects of atmospheric UV-B radiation are negative for biological life. Enhanced levels of UV-B radiation can indeed negatively change plant physiological processes, growth and productivity. However, while studying UV-B effects on medicinal plants, some interesting phenomena have been discovered. For example, basil plants respond positively to UV-B radiation by increasing oil yield (Chang et al. J Horticult For 1:27–31, 2009). In other studies medicinal plants show beneficial aspects in term of increase in volatile oil yield and secondary metabolite production (Kumari et al. Ecotoxicol Environ Safety 72:2013–2019, 2009c, 2010). Medicinal herbs have great market value in India and worldwide. The medicinal value of plants depends upon phenolics, antioxidants and volatile yield. Therefore further UV-B experiments increasing the levels of these compounds are needed.Here we review the effect of UV-B exposure on metabolites, volatiles, and antioxidants potential in medicinal plants. This chapter reports: (1) aspects of the global market for medicinal and aromatic plants in India in order to assist the medicinal plant industry to make informed decisions. (2) The biodiversity loss due to wild harvesting of plants, and as an alternative the cultivation strategy of medicinal plants. (3) Main medicinal plant species having rich antioxidant potential. (4) Main secondary metabolites of plant origin such as phenylpropanoids, terpenes, alkaloids, and volatile oil, and other important metabolites containing high antioxidant level used in human diet and health. (5) UV-B factors that enhance the quality of medicinal plant by increasing the content of secondary bioactive products. (6) Secondary metabolic pathways involving regulation of key enzymes, chalcone synthase, and phenylalanine ammonia lyase. Understanding of UV-B responses on secondary plant metabolites expand new opportunities for plant enriched in medicinal active compounds.

Medicinal and aromatic plants are known to produce secondary metabolites that find uses as flavoring agents, fragrances, insecticides, dyes and drugs. Biotechnology offers several choices through which secondary metabolism in medicinal plants can be altered in innovative ways, to overproduce phytochemicals of interest, to reduce the content of toxic compounds or even to produce novel chemicals. Detailed investigation of chromatin organization and microRNAs affecting biosynthesis of secondary metabolites as well as exploring cryptic biosynthetic clusters and synthetic biology options, may provide additional ways to harness this resource. Plant secondary metabolites are a fascinating class of phytochemicals exhibiting immense chemical diversity. Considerable enigma regarding their natural biological functions and the vast array of pharmacological activities, amongst other uses, make secondary metabolites interesting and important candidates for research. Here, we present an update on changing trends in the biotechnological approaches that are used to understand and exploit the secondary metabolism in medicinal and aromatic plants. Bioprocessing in the form of suspension culture, organ culture or transformed hairy roots has been successful in scaling up secondary metabolite production in many cases. Pathway elucidation and metabolic engineering have been useful to get enhanced yield of the metabolite of interest; or, for producing novel metabolites. Heterologous expression of putative plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis genes in a microbe is useful to validate their functions, and in some cases, also, to produce plant metabolites in microbes. Endophytes, the microbes that normally colonize plant tissues, may also produce the phytochemicals produced by the host plant. The review also provides perspectives on future research in the field.

Due to their pharmaceutical properties and secondary metabolites, medicinal plants have played a crucial role in alleviating human suffering from various illnesses, disorders, and diseases. Along with other natural and artificial disasters, rapid climate change is one of the critical causes of the decline in wild medicinal plant species. Therefore, considering their significance in traditional medicine practices and economic value, investigating the potential consequences of climate change on medicinal plants is specifically relevant. This review aimed to investigate the diversity of species of medicinal plants within current climate scenarios. Additionally, it assesses the potential implications of climate change on the projected distribution of these species in subsequent scenarios and evaluates the possible impacts of these changes on the trajectory of future research in medicinal plants. The distribution and life cycles of all vegetation, including medicinal plants, are significantly impacted by climate change. Additionally, future climate scenarios have been shown to affect the physiological performance of all vegetation worldwide. Various aspects related to climate change and its repercussions on medicinal plants are explored including the impact of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) levels, the effect of low temperature (Cold), climate warming, drought on the production of secondary metabolites, impact of threats on medicinal plants, and phenological changes. Each of these environmental factors influences the productivity and quality of different products and components of medicinal plants, either positively or negatively. Consequently, there is excellent complexity surrounding how climate change affects medicinal plants. Thus, for human survival on Earth, future researchers should carefully examine the interactions of various direct and indirect causes and their corresponding effects. Keywords: Secondary metabolites, Climate change, medicinal plants, Phenology.

Due to their interesting properties for human health, medicinal plants are of worldwide interest, including Iran. More has yet to be investigated and analyzed on the use of methods affecting medicinal plant growth and biochemical properties under stress. The important question about medicinal plants is the purpose of their plantation, determining their growth conditions. The present review article is about the effects of salinity stress on the growth and production of secondary metabolites (SM) in medicinal plants. In stressful conditions including salinity, while the growth of medicinal plants decreases, the production of secondary metabolites (SM) may increase significantly affecting plant medicinal properties. SMs are self-protective substances that medicinal plants quickly accumulate to resist changes in the external environment. Although previous research has indicated the effects of salt stress on the growth and yield of medicinal plants, more has yet to be indicated on how the use of biological methods including plant growth regulators (PGR) and soil microbes (mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, PGPR) may affect the physiology of medicinal plants and the subsequent production of SM in salt stress conditions. The use of modern omics has become significantly important for the identification and characterization of new SM, transcriptomics, genomics, and proteomics of medicinal plants, as well as for the high production of plant-derived medicines. Accordingly, the possible biological mechanisms, which may affect such properties, have been presented. Future research perspectives for the production of medicinal plants in saline fields, using biological methods, have been suggested. KEY POINTS: • The important question about medicinal plants is the purpose of their plantation. • Secondary metabolites (SM) may significantly increase under salinity stress. • Biological methods, affecting the production of SM by stressed medicinal plants.

Indonesia has high biodiversity and is well-known for its medicinal plant diversity, which is both singular and globally affluent. Due to their secondary metabolite efficacy for various ailments; medicinal plants are commercially and highly useful to human. Secondary metabolites assure the plant from abiotic and biotic stressors and aid pollination and fruit distribution. However, the changing climate, deforestation, population growth, overharvesting and the unsustainable manner of medicinal plant collection for trade, may drive many populations extinct. The study aimed to review some climate change effects on Indonesian medicinal plants as potential medicine sources for discovery and human being development. By reviewing with emphasis how each of the individual factors affects the growth, development and plant secondary metabolites production. This review illustrates a common figure of environmental factors such as temperature, drought, and CO2 that affect Indonesia’s medicinal plants. It is evident that climate change is having a detrimental influence on existing resources’ life cycles, medicinal plant quality and production, habitat fragmentation, shifting distribution ranges, phenology pattern changes, etc. Compared to other commercial crops, medicinal plant research on climate change is infrequent and limited. The study suggests some different adaptive techniques be used to mitigate climatic challenges and preserve medicinal plants.

An appraisal of arbuscular mycorrhiza-mediated augmentation in production of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants

Plant growth regulator mediated consequences of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants

Medicinal herbs have been used for a long time to cure health problems and prevent disease, including epidemics. Medicinal plants are used for different purposes and in diverse uses of human beings. People around them have a basic knowledge and using through their traditional medicine from the past several years. Natural and manmade calamities, such as rapid climate change, urban growth, industrial boom, overpopulation pollution, declining forest cover, habitat loss, over-harvesting, destructive harvesting, and floods, are the principal reasons of the reduction of wild medicinal plant species. The life cycles and distribution of the world's vegetation, especially wild medicinal plants, are being affected by climate change. The impact of global climate change on medicinal plants could have a huge influence, especially in terms of their utility in conventional medication systems and as economically useful plants. The current essay emphasises the importance of study to improve our understanding of climate influences on medicinal plants properties, phenology and metabolic responses. The purpose of this paper is to review the impact of abiotic variables on secondary metabolite formation and different adaptation measures as well as future research initiatives. Furthermore, such issues with global climate change will undoubtedly become more visible or immediate threats, putting further strain on medicinal plant species. The impact of global climate change on medicinal plants could negatively correlate with environment concerns parameters, especially in terms of their utility in conventional medication systems and as economically useful plants.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) are a specific group of soil microorganisms that aggressively colonize the rhizosphere and rhizoplane, and substantially improve plant growth and efficiency via direct or indirect mechanisms. Moreover, infection by microorganisms as well as physiological and genetic factors and environmental conditions are the main agents affecting the accumulation and composition of secondary metabolites. As an environmentally friendly strategy, PGPRs should be considered to achieve sustainable high yields of industrially important secondary metabolites in plants using minimum chemical inputs. This chapter aims to introduce proven or putative mechanisms by which PGPRs promote seed germination, growth, nutrient acquisition, and production of primary and secondary metabolites in aromatic and medicinal plants.

Turkey is a country rich in terms of both plant endemism and genetic diversity due to its geographical structure. A variety of medicinal and aromatic plants include aniseed, cumin, laurel, poppy, rosemary, and thyme are cultivated in more than 40 provinces of Turkey. Most of the medicinal plants are usually cultivated in the Marmara, Mediterranean, Aegean, eastern Black Sea, and Southeastern Anatolia regions. Medicinal and aromatic plants have been used for therapeutic purposes since ancient times because they contain biologically active compounds such as flavonoids, saponins, terpenes, steroids, phenolics, and alkaloids are bioactive substances which cause the plants’ therapeutic value. Biotechnological approaches, like plant cell and tissue culture techniques, genetic engineering studies and CRISPR-Cas9 technology make in vitro production of a variety of pharmaceutics, such as alkaloids, amino acids, flavonoids, monoterpenes, saponins, steroids, and terpenoids possible, without having to collect plants from the wild. This chapter assesses medicinal and aromatic plants cultivated in Turkey and their secondary substances, and specific biotechnological methods used in the production of these secondary metabolites.

Medicinal plants are an important source of therapeutic compounds used in the treatment of many diseases since ancient times. Interestingly, they form associations with numerous microorganisms developing as endophytes or symbionts in different parts of the plants. Within the soil, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are the most prevalent symbiotic microorganisms forming associations with more than 70% of vascular plants. In the last decade, a number of studies have reported the positive effects of AMF on improving the production and accumulation of important active compounds in medicinal plants.In this work, we reviewed the literature on the effects of AMF on the production of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants. The major findings are as follows: AMF impact the production of secondary metabolites either directly by increasing plant biomass or indirectly by stimulating secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways. The magnitude of the impact differs depending on the plant genotype, the AMF strain, and the environmental context (e.g., light, time of harvesting). Different methods of cultivation are used for the production of secondary metabolites by medicinal plants (e.g., greenhouse, aeroponics, hydroponics, in vitro and hairy root cultures) which also are compatible with AMF. In conclusion, the inoculation of medicinal plants with AMF is a real avenue for increasing the quantity and quality of secondary metabolites of pharmacological, medical, and cosmetic interest.