Optimizing Biosynthesis and Sustainable Extraction of Bioactive Natural Products from In Vitro Plant Cultures

Natural bioactive compounds, such as alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, and phenolics, have extensive applications across pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agrochemical, and functional food industries due to prominent antioxidative, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer activities. The fast-growing global demand for these compounds has highlighted significant drawbacks of traditional extraction methods from naturally grown plants, namely seasonal variability, environmental harm, depletion of biodiversity, and inconsistency in quality and yield. Consequently, there is a clear need for sustainable, reproducible, and environmentally-friendly solutions to produce these valuable natural products. Plant tissue culture technologies offer promising potential by systematically overcoming various limitations tied to field-grown plants, thereby providing a more controlled, scalable, and sustainable production system.Despite the advantages of plant tissue culture, challenges remain concerning low metabolic yields, incomplete understanding of biosynthetic pathways, and insufficiently optimized extraction approaches. This Research Topic seeks innovative research explicitly addressing these limitations by optimizing biosynthetic pathways and employing novel metabolic engineering strategies to enhance the yield of bioactive metabolites. Additionally, it aims to improve sustainable, scalable extraction methods and purification technologies suitable for industrial application and commercialization.To gather further insights in the sustainable production of bioactive compounds through plant tissue culture, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Optimization of biosynthetic pathways for bioactive natural products from in vitro plant cultures.- Biotechnology interventions, including metabolic engineering, to enhance production efficiency.- Green and sustainable extraction, isolation, and purification methods for bioactive compounds.- Comparative analyses of bioactive compounds from in vitro and naturally grown plant sources.- Assessment of bioactivities and industrial applications of plant-derived bioactive products.- Economic viability, scalability, and commercial implementation analyses. Topic editors: Benedetta Chiancone, Valeria Guarrasi Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/71568/optimizing-biosynthesis-and-sustainable-extraction-of-bioactive-natural-products-from-in-vitro-plant-cultures