Integration of Omics Tools for Enhancing Secondary Metabolite Content in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Human beings utilize plants as medication for treating various diseases. The majority of secondary metabolites produced in plants, functioning as chemical factories, are employed either directly as medicines or indirectly in pharmaceutical development. Despite challenges faced by plant breeders in enhancing these compounds through conventional methods, the burgeoning field of plant research in omics has significantly advanced our understanding of the complex structure of secondary metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants. The exploration of “omics” has notably paved the way for scrutinizing the biosynthetic processes of specific medicinal plants. The generation of de novo genome, transcriptome sequences, proteomics, metabolomics and ionomics a highly informative practice observed across diverse species, greatly enhances our comprehension of plant metabolism. Notably, recent progress in multiomics approaches and tools has generated a knowledge base for numerous medicinal plant species. This information serves as a valuable starting point for the identification of pathways involved in secondary metabolite production. In the past three decades, numerous studies have developed to understand the intricacies of secondary metabolites in these plants. This chapter offers in-depth insights into the latest advancements and the integration of multi-omics approaches for enhancing the production of secondary metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plant species.