Biotechnology Toward Medicinal Plants (MPs)

The use of medicinal plants (MPs) that produce a secondary metabolite continues to grow along with population growth. As a result, overexploitation occurs and causes species extinction and genetic erosion. This article aims to answer the question about the role of biotechnology in increasing the production of secondary metabolite and their conservation. The biotechnologies that can be used to increase secondary metabolite are tissue culture and bioreactor. Secondary metabolites of tissue culture MPs improved through methods such as such as (1) selection of high-yield lines; (2) optimization of culture conditions (nutrient media composition, inoculum density, temperature, light, agitation, and aeration); (3) elicitation; (4) addition of precursors; and (5) immobilization. Meanwhile, the conservation of MPs can be carried out by utilizing in vitro technology, especially in vitro cold storage and cryopreservation. This shows that humans, biotechnology, and plants have a close relationship and can be optimized to meet the MPs needs and their conservation. Nevertheless, the social impact of the use of biotechnology still needs to be studied.