Pragati Misra’s research while affiliated with Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences and other places

The medicinal properties of plants stem from specific compounds known as plant secondary metabolites, which possess significant potential in treating various human ailments and diseases. However, these metabolites are typically produced in small quantities naturally as a response to different stresses. To address this limitation, researchers explore ways to enhance the production of these valuable metabolites. Biotechnological methods offer numerous advantages, such as consistent, stable, and year-round sustainable production, scalability, and simplified extraction and purification processes. Techniques like hairy root, callus, and suspension cultures are reliable approaches for producing these bioactive compounds in controlled environments. Additionally, ongoing research explores genetic engineering, metabolic engineering, and biotransformation as promising methods to boost biomass and biochemicals. Notably, recent studies highlight the use of elicitors from both biotic and abiotic sources, with nanoparticle elicitation garnering significant attention among researchers. This chapter aims to summarize the latest advancements in the in vitro production of high-value plant secondary metabolites with medicinal significance.

Aromatherapy is a medical practice that uses aromatic compounds or essential oils to influence mood and health. Essential oils used in aromatherapy are created from a wide variety of medicinal plants, flowers, herbs, roots, and trees that are found all over the world and have significant, well-documented benefits on enhancing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. This book is a comprehensive reference on aromatic compounds present in essential oils and their therapeutic use. Starting from fundamentals of essential oil biosynthesis the book guides the reader through their basic biochemistry, toxicology, profiling, blending and clinical applications. The concluding chapters also present focused information about the therapeutic effects of essential oils on specific physiological systems, plant sources, skin treatment and cancer therapeutics. The combination of basic and applied knowledge will provide readers with all the necessary information for understanding how to develop preclinical formulations and standard clinical therapies with essential oils. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in aromatherapy and the science of essential oils.

Aromatherapy is a medical practice that uses aromatic compounds or essential oils to influence mood and health. Essential oils used in aromatherapy are created from a wide variety of medicinal plants, flowers, herbs, roots, and trees that are found all over the world and have significant, well-documented benefits on enhancing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. This book is a comprehensive reference on aromatic compounds present in essential oils and their therapeutic use. Starting from fundamentals of essential oil biosynthesis the book guides the reader through their basic biochemistry, toxicology, profiling, blending and clinical applications. The concluding chapters also present focused information about the therapeutic effects of essential oils on specific physiological systems, plant sources, skin treatment and cancer therapeutics. The combination of basic and applied knowledge will provide readers with all the necessary information for understanding how to develop preclinical formulations and standard clinical therapies with essential oils. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in aromatherapy and the science of essential oils.

Aromatherapy is a medical practice that uses aromatic compounds or essential oils to influence mood and health. Essential oils used in aromatherapy are created from a wide variety of medicinal plants, flowers, herbs, roots, and trees that are found all over the world and have significant, well-documented benefits on enhancing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. This book is a comprehensive reference on aromatic compounds present in essential oils and their therapeutic use. Starting from fundamentals of essential oil biosynthesis the book guides the reader through their basic biochemistry, toxicology, profiling, blending and clinical applications. The concluding chapters also present focused information about the therapeutic effects of essential oils on specific physiological systems, plant sources, skin treatment and cancer therapeutics. The combination of basic and applied knowledge will provide readers with all the necessary information for understanding how to develop preclinical formulations and standard clinical therapies with essential oils. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in aromatherapy and the science of essential oils.

The production of pharmaceutically significant and economically useful proteins in plants is known as molecular farming. Its vision is to help mass manufacturing of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins as safe and economical as possible. Plants, which may be grown in a variety of environment, have a lot of potential for producing diverse types of therapeutic proteins with fewer concerns of contamination from animal and human pathogens. Important parameters such as model host plants, gene expression cassettes, subcellular compartmentalization, resources and tools for post‐translational modifications (PTMs), and protein isolation and purification procedures should all be considered in order to optimize the quantity and quality of plant‐made pharmaceuticals. DNA technology and genetic transformation approaches have also made significant advances. Plant protein yield has increased substantially as a result of the creation and enhancement of the transient expression technology. The cost‐effectiveness and adaptability of the plant‐based platform make it a potential competitor (bacteria or mammalian cell cultures) for the conventional expression system. This chapter provides an understanding of the current scenario of pharmaceutical protein production in plant expression systems, as well as various strategies and implications.

Plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites, and plant cell culture technologies developed in the past are the best possible tool for secondary metabolites production having various importance in the pharmaceuticals, insecticides, dyes and drugs production, food and flavor industries, etc. Medicinal plants are those plants that produce certain compounds that acts as therapeutic agents, nutritional additives or supplements, and toxic agents on several other species including human. Due to strict metabolic regulation and tissue specific localization, differentiated cultures such as hairy root cultures are widely studied. Hairy roots emerge when a plant is infected by a symbiotic bacteria called Rhizobium rhizogenes that is an important method for the production of secondary metabolites synthesized in plant roots. Agrobacterium rhizogenes (or R. rhizogenes ) transforms plant genomes and induce the production of hairy roots that are also known to produce a spectrum of secondary metabolites that are not present in the parent plant. The physical characteristics of hairy root formed are identified by fast hormone‐independent growth, lack of geotropism, lateral branching, and their stability at genetic level. Elicitation of hairy roots is the process used to enhance and increase the production of secondary metabolites, and it also helps in forming metabolic pathways for preventing the feedback inhibition and protecting metabolites from degrading in the production media. A. rhizogenes infection in plants causes transformed roots characterized by high growth rate, genetic stability, and growth in hormone free media. In situ adsorption of the products results in the increased yield of the product by many folds. Due to the recent advancements in the field of transgenic research, the possibility of the metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways for high‐value secondary metabolites production is increased thus improving yields. This adaptability gives hairy roots a name as a platform for major biotechnological tools. In recent years, the use of plants as bioreactors has emerged as an exciting area of research and significant advances have created new opportunities. Development of large‐scale culture methods using bioreactors has made production of secondary metabolites easy at the industrial scale. Now these expression systems are ready to be used by different industries like pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food sectors due to the development of fully controlled large‐scale bioreactors. Low production cost, product safety, and easy scale up have been the best characteristics in the rapid growth of plant bioreactors.

Primary nonrenewable sources of energy like coal, petroleum, and natural gas are constantly depleting due to their perpetual usage in industrial and transport sectors. Besides, these fuels have emerged out as precarious category of sources of pollutants, displaying hostile effects on both human health and the dynamism of ecosystems, due to forgo of hazardous and toxic gases. Moreover, level of greenhouse gases has exponentially augmented in the post‐industrialization period by 25% of total through emission of chlorofluoro‐hydrocarbons and CO 2 . As a result, across the globe, the climate conditions have perilously transmuted and have become a matter of concern and debate. Therefore, improved fuel transformation strategies with better adeptness, eco‐friendly, and renewable nature are required to meet the energy supply demand for the ever‐growing population. Owing to all this, there is desideratum for the sustainable alternative sources of renewable energy. Diverse array of biomass from heterogeneous sources like forestry, agricultural, and aquatic systems have been considered for a variety of biofuel production, viz., bio‐hydrogen, biogas, bio‐oil, bioethanol, and biodiesel. The utilization of first‐generation biofuels obtained from oil seeds (soybean, and rapeseed) and food‐based crops (corn, and sugar molasses) are restricted due to the climate change as well as economic concerns. Second‐generation biofuels obtained from lignocellulosic biomass, municipal solid wastes, manures, agricultural and forest wastes, e.g. jatropha, cassava, poplar, and so on, are additionally delimited because of the processing and high production cost quandary. Microalgae, comprises of third‐generation biofuels, are found to be very promising in the engenderment of biofuels. Microalgae, harbor metabolic toolbox to, act as a solar‐driven energy factory for production of raw materials for biofuels. Also photosynthetic machinery of microalgae enables CO 2 sequestration from atmosphere and ergo diminishes the relinquishment of unfavorable and toxic substances in the environment. Microalgae, therefore, could be plausible keystone to provide a solution to meet global energy demand along with sustaining invulnerable and carbon‐neutral environment. This chapter fixates on the biofuels production by these minute photoautotrophs, their cultivation, harvesting, processing as well as other by‐products and the promising applications of microalgae.

Green synthesis is one of the most valuable and emerging methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) nowadays, presenting imperative biological benefits, reduced process time, cost-effectiveness, and environmental benefits, as an alternative to physical and chemical processes. Silver, a noble metal, possess unique properties and potential applications in medicine, requiring the search for novel and suitable tools for its production due to the growing demand. The exploration of plants diversity can be used towards rapid and single-step preparatory methods for various NPs, maintaining the green principle over conventional ones, an important aspect for medical applications. Plants contain bio-organics components, which usually play multiple roles as reducing, capping as well as stabilizing agents for metal compounds into silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The stability of these NPs is governed by certain parameters, which influence stability and bioavailability. In this perspective, this review aims to provide a comprehensive view to understand the possible induced mechanism, current scenario and future prospects for the bio-inspired synthesis of AgNPs.