Natural Drugs Through Plant Cell Suspension Culture

Throughout ancient history, plants have been harnessed for their phytochemical components, particularly the secondary metabolites. These compounds, though present in small quantities within plants, have served various roles as medicinal aids, flavor enhancers, coloring agents, and fragrances. Recent times have witnessed an incremental interest in these natural products, finding their application in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals, thereby gaining substantial economic importance. The synthesis of these secondary metabolites within plants depends upon several factors like plant species, environment, and geographical location, marked by challenging issues of both quality and quantity during synthesis on a large scale. As a result, there is an increasing tendency to improve the production of secondary metabolites by employing techniques involving in vitro plant cell suspension (PCS) culture and bioengineering approaches. This book chapter focuses on the various secondary metabolites found in plants, applications of PCS, strategies employed to increase the yield of plant-derived secondary metabolites (PDSMs), and the genetic engineering approaches for plant cell culture.