The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2022;11(5):371-376 ; DOI:10.31254/phyto.2022.11511
Impact of drought stress signals on growth and secondary metabolites (SMs) in medicinal plants
Sanjoy Shil1 , Sujaya Dewanjee2
1. Assistant Professor (Plant Physiol/Agril. Biochemistry/Microbiology), BCKV (Bankura Campus), Susunia, Bankura, West Bengal 722132, India
2. Assistant Professor (Genetics and Plant Breeding), RRS, BCKV, Ragunathpur, Purulia, West Bengal 723133, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 13th July, 2022 / Accepted: 1st September, 2022 / Published : 31st October, 2022
Medicinal plants having diversified phytochemical compounds like secondary plant metabolites(alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, steroids, flavanoids, tannins, cyanogenic glycosides and glucosinolates,essential oils and aromatic compounds etc) are subject to abiotic stress like drought. Drought, one of themajor ecologically limiting factors has significant impact on growth and secondary metabolic process ofseveral medicinal plants. Water stress causes a reduction in plant size, density, reduces plant leaf area,and decrease in whole biomass, and not only alters the plant structurally and anatomically but also leadsto fluctuation of their secondary chemical constituents. Secondary plant metabolites (SPMs) are useful toassess the quality and quantity of the therapeutic ingredients and such metabolites synthesized by theplant helps to cope up towards the negative effects of stress for adaptation and defence. A large numberof studies manifested from the relevant review that drought influences on SPMs production andaccumulation from plant parts like roots, stems, leaves, flower, fruits, seeds etc and causes an increase ordecrease in their solute concentration by up to 50%.Studies showed that a medicinal plant produces different concentration of a particular metabolite grownunder stress and non-stress environment. Generally, drought stress accumulates a higher concentration ofactive phytochemicals like alkaloids, tannins, terpenoids etc whereas concentration of phenols,flavanoids and saponins etc decreases under drought. In most cases as a whole, it may have to beconcluding from comparative analysis that medicinal plants grown under drought exhibits higher contentof secondary plant products than grown under optimal conditions. In addition, all secondary productsmay not increase in equal proportions under stress and it depends on the intensity of the drought as wellas species of medicinal plants. Thus, moderate drought stress significantly enhanced the quality as wellas quantity of secondary active substances in medicinal plants. However, for better understanding indepth further research is utmost essential at molecular level using new techniques viz. Proteomics,metabolomics, transcriptomes and genomics etc.
Drought stress, growth, metabolism, secondary plant metabolites (SPMs), medicinal plants.
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Shil S, Dewanjee S. Impact of drought stress signals on growth and secondarymetabolites (SMs) in medicinal plants. J Phytopharmacol 2022; 11(5):371-376. doi:10.31254/phyto.2022.11511
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