Cited by 488Plant biochemistry and biosynthesisPlant Stress Responses and TolerancePhytochemistry and Biological Activities

Plant Secondary Metabolites Produced in Response to Abiotic Stresses Has Potential Application in Pharmaceutical Product Development

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Yeshi, Karma, Crayn, Darren, Ritmejerytė, Edita, Wangchuk, Phurpa·2022·Molecules

Abstract

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are vital for human health and constitute the skeletal framework of many pharmaceutical drugs. Indeed, more than 25% of the existing drugs belong to PSMs. One of the continuing challenges for drug discovery and pharmaceutical industries is gaining access to natural products, including medicinal plants. This bottleneck is heightened for endangered species prohibited for large sample collection, even if they show biological hits. While cultivating the pharmaceutically interesting plant species may be a solution, it is not always possible to grow the organism outside its natural habitat. Plants affected by abiotic stress present a potential alternative source for drug discovery. In order to overcome abiotic environmental stressors, plants may mount a defense response by producing a diversity of PSMs to avoid cells and tissue damage. Plants either synthesize new chemicals or increase the concentration (in most instances) of existing chemicals, including the prominent bioactive lead compounds morphine, camptothecin, catharanthine, epicatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), quercetin, resveratrol, and kaempferol. Most PSMs produced under various abiotic stress conditions are plant defense chemicals and are functionally anti-inflammatory and antioxidative. The major PSM groups are terpenoids, followed by alkaloids and phenolic compounds. We have searched the literature on plants affected by abiotic stress (primarily studied in the simulated growth conditions) and their PSMs (including pharmacological activities) from PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE Ovid, Google Scholar, Databases, and journal websites. We used search keywords: “stress-affected plants,” “plant secondary metabolites, “abiotic stress,” “climatic influence,” “pharmacological activities,” “bioactive compounds,” “drug discovery,” and “medicinal plants” and retrieved published literature between 1973 to 2021. This review provides an overview of variation in bioactive phytochemical production in plants under various abiotic stress and their potential in the biodiscovery of therapeutic drugs. We excluded studies on the effects of biotic stress on PSMs.

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  1. [20]Willis K.J. State of the World’s Plants 2017 Available online: https://www.kew.org/about-us/press-media/state-of-the-worlds-plants-2017 (accessed on 9 November 2021)
  2. [33]Breitmaier E. Terpenes: Flavors, Fragrances, Pharmaca, Pheromones Wiley-VCH Weinheim, Germany 2006 1 223

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Authors
Yeshi, K., Crayn, D., Ritmejerytė, E., & Wangchuk, P.
Affiliations
  • Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AU)
  • Australian Tropical Herbarium (AU)
Corresponding author
Yeshi, Karma
Venue
Molecules
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-01-05
Volume
27
Issue
1
Pages
313
ISSN
1420-3049 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4206442306
Cited by
488
References
280
Citations by year
2026: 84 · 2025: 140 · 2024: 142 · 2023: 86 · 2022: 36
FWCI
10.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecules (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ResearchOnline - JCU (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1183323)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Phytochemistry and Biological Activities
Keywords
plant secondary metabolites, abiotic stress, plant defense response, drug discovery, medicinal plants, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant activity, bioactive phytochemicals, medicinal plant cultivation, threatened plant species
MeSH terms
Drug Development, Adaptation, Biological, Biological Products, Climate, Plants, Medicinal, Stress, Physiological, Structure-Activity Relationship, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Drug Discovery, Phytochemicals, Secondary Metabolism

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