In-vitro Propagation to Conserve Medicinally Important Plants: Insight, Procedures, and Opportunities

The utilization of plant tissue culture for the purpose of identifying and isolating bioactive phytocompounds has a wide range of industrial applications. The utilization of this technology offers prospective advantages across various sectors, encompassing the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. India is known for its herbal remedies and has stood as an epitome of harnessing medicinal plants for ethnomedicinal benefits. The sudden loss of the majority of endemic medicinal plants is the stiff challenge that the world is facing today. A recent estimate has declared an alarming count of more than 90% of medicinal plant species as being threatened, with the majority nearing extinction. The use of the micro-propagation technique for large-scale production of plantlets and preservation of germplasm is an essential requirement that must be pursued to establish an efficient in vitro regeneration strategy for medicinal plants. In-vitro propagation ensures a conserved environment for plant propagation and maintains disease-free plants. Micropropagation stands as a promising innovation that ensures a better tomorrow for endangered plants. Several protocols are developed worldwide to conserve flora and enhance its value. This chapter focuses on the in vitro propagation efforts to conserve medicinally important plants.