Biotechnology Towards Improvement of Plants for Enhancement of Natural Products

With an increased awareness and affinity towards plant-based natural products for various industrial applications, there is a substantial rise in the need for valuable metabolites from plants. Switching to plant-derived molecules, in addition to being safe for human consumption over centuries, offers the advantage of being a sustainable and environment-friendly choice. In times when conventional production strategies are not able to meet the inflated demand, biotechnological tools come to the aid of offering reliable and efficient methodologies for increased synthesis of secondary metabolites in plants. A large number of research studies employing such techniques have been documented in the past and also a focus of research in the recent years. Tea, being one of the important economic plantation crops of India, has also been exploited for its specific metabolites which possess enormous health benefits, and biotechnology has contributed to their increased production. This chapter focuses on presenting a concise summary of the findings in crop improvement for industrial benefits in general and as a case study on tea.