ENHANCED POLYPHENOL PRODUCTION IN MEDICINAL PLANTS USING TISSUE CULTURE

Abstract

Medicinal plants are an indispensable source of phytochemicals. Polyphenols are one of the most prominent bioactive components produced by medicinal plants. Polyphenols are the plant’s secondary metabolites which are secreted in response to any kind of abiotic or biotic stress. The stress can be due to harmful UV rays, pathogen attack, infection, temperature variation, nutrient deficiency or any kind of infection. These polyphenols are responsible for providing medicinal properties to plants. The polyphenols are great therapeutic agents for humans and are widely used for manufacture of herbal drugs. The polyphenols have found to be strong antioxidant properties and protects epidermal layer from various damages. Polyphenols when either supplied

in diet or applied topically have found to be protective effects on skin. It is known to have anti- inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti- carcinogenesis, anti- melanogenesis property. For meeting such

a high demand of polyphenols for therapeutic use, sustainable production of polyphenols is necessary as their extraction from natural sources leads to extinction of rare medicinal plant species. For this, the invitro plant tissue culture proves to be an efficient method of propagating rare medicinal plants and optimizing various environmental conditions for maximizing the production of polyphenols.