Biotechnological Production of Bioactive Phytochemicals of Medicinal Value: A Comprehensive Treatise covers a broad variety of methods for secondary metabolites production (both pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals), compiling state-of-the-art material about the current knowledge of in vitro production for a large number of bioactive phytochemicals. Plants are a source of bioactive compounds and specialty chemicals such as ginsenosides; paclitaxel, artemisinin, veregen and nutraceuticals. Biopharmaceuticals are important in human healthcare, and herbal actives are gaining importance all over the world. With natural resources dwindling, in vitro production of secondary compounds on a commercial scale is being more and more required. Besides providing an alternative technology to bypass difficulties, the plant tissue culture (used in a broad sense to include cell, tissue, and organ culture) offers many advantages. In vitro technology also facilitates novel means of conserving the genetic diversity of the germplasm of medicinal plants through cryopreservation, production of novel compounds through biotransformation, somatic hybridization, and selective gene transfer through recombinant DNA technology for enhancing metabolite production.
- Compiles state-of-the-art material about in vitro production for several bioactive phytochemicals
- Incorporates the most recent developments in the field
- Covers a broad variety of secondary metabolites
Anabela Romano, PhD in Biology from the University of Lisbon, is a Full Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Algarve (UAlg), where she coordinates the MED-UAlg research centre. Since joining UAlg in 1995, she has led the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory and held several leadership roles, including Vice-Rector and Director of the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering. Her research focuses on plant biotechnology, with an emphasis on the sustainable use of plant genetic resources and the characterization of natural compounds. She has coordinated numerous national and international projects, collaborated with academic institutions worldwide, and contributed to science policy through high-level panels under Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), appointed by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education. She also serves as President of the General Assembly of the Centro de Ciência Viva de Lagos. Professor Romano is a prolific author and a frequent speaker at scientific events in Portugal and abroad, and she has served as an evaluator for various national and international research funding agencies.
P.B. Kavi Kishor earned a PhD in Botany in 1981 from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and joined Osmania University’s Department of Genetics the same year, where he served until 2011. He was a CSIR Emeritus Scientist through 2019 and now mentors startup projects under the DBT-BIRAC program. He spent 1992–1994 at The Ohio State University’s Biotechnology Center under a Rockefeller Foundation program and has held Visiting Professorships at Emory University, Linköping University, and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research. An award-winning author/editor, he is ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier. Prof. Kishor is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Indian Botanical Society, the Andhra Pradesh Akademy of Sciences, and the Telangana Academy of Sciences, and an elected member of the Plant Tissue Culture Association of India. His research spans ontogeny and abiotic stress responses, with pioneering results informing cancer biology and therapeutics. He has also sequenced groundnut and chickpea genomes, advancing understanding of salt, drought, and heat stress mechanisms to improve crops in saline and water-deficit soils.
Penna Suprasanna, PhD in Genetics,
is the former Head of the Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India. He has made significant contributions to plant biotechnology, mutation breeding, stress tolerance, and novel biopolymers, and his research has advanced the molecular understanding of abiotic stress tolerance in crops and salinity-adaptive mechanisms in halophytes. He serves on the editorial boards of several national and international journals and has edited multiple books, which demonstrate a coherent research-and-translation agenda across breeding, nutrition, and digital agriculture.
T. Pullaiah earned his PhD from Andhra University and then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Moscow State University (1976–1978). He is a former Professor of Botany at Sri Krishnadevaraya University, where he taught for more than 35 years. He served as president of the Indian Botanical Society in 2014 and of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy in 2013. His honors include the Panchanan Maheshwari Gold Medal, the Prof. P. C. Trivedi Medal, the Dr. G. Panigrahi Memorial Lecture Award of the Indian Botanical Society, and the Prof. Y. D. Tyagi Gold Medal of IAAT. A prolific author and editor, Prof. Pullaiah has mentored students throughout his career and, for several years, has also been a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, a global network of over 10,000 volunteer experts dedicated to conserving biodiversity and preventing species extinction through science-based action and collaboration.
Dr Ranga Rao has carried out Postdoctoral Research work in Arizona State University, Arizona (USA). Dr. Ranga Rao has been working as Associate Professor and Senior Scientist in Department of Biotechnology, Vignan’s Foundation Science, Technology and Research University (Deemed to be University), India. He has 18 years of research experience. Previously Dr. Rang Rao worked as Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Visiting Assistant Dr. Ranga Rao published more than 50 papers in peer reviewed international and national journals, edited several books and has presented over 60 conferences/symposia/seminar in international conferences. and Global Biomass Production.
He was selected for Junior Scientist of the Year Award (2015) by National Environmental Science Academy, New Delhi, India; honored TWAS-Young Affiliate (2014) by Regional Office of East South-East Asia and the Pacific Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China; received Young Scientist Award (2014) at the World Food Congress by International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), Canada; Carl Storm International Diversity Fellowship Award (2010) by Gordon Research Conferences, USA.
He is an associate fellow of Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (2019) Government of Andhra Pradesh, India and also fellow of the Society of Applied Biotechnology (2013), India.
He has received research grants and travel grant fellowship as both international and national awards, under Young Scientist schemes. He is also serving as editorial board member and reviewer for reputed international and national journals.
