Insights into elicitor’s role in augmenting secondary metabolites production and climate resilience in genus Ocimum – A globally important medicinal and aromatic crop

Abstract

The genus Ocimum commonly known as basil is renowned for its aromatic foliage and diverse medicinal properties. The basil plant possesses exceptional healing properties which can be attributed to the presence of highly valuable secondary metabolites. The inadequate yield of bioactive components in basil plants poses a major hurdle in their commercial application. Several approaches are being employed at the field, cellular, and molecular levels to enhance specialized mechanisms in plants to achieve the highest amount of bioactive constituents. The use of elicitors is one of the useful techniques for regulating secondary metabolism in in vitro and in vivo environments. To stimulate the production of secondary metabolites, various elicitors are being employed. The literature has documented an increase in a wide range of bioactive compounds by the application of various elicitors. Although elicitation is a highly effective technique for stimulating the production of crucial secondary metabolites in Ocimum cultures and whole plants, still its utilization is in emergence at the field level. Standardization of elicitor type along with their concentration to target biosynthetic pathways and metabolites is of great significance. Therefore, the use of elicitation for the sustainable intensification of bioactive compounds within medicinal plants is of great future potential. In this article, we aim to investigate different elicitation techniques that are utilized to augment the production of secondary metabolites and climate resilience in the genus Ocimum.