Nano-elicitation: An efficient method for enhancement of secondary metabolite production in plant cultures
Tania Sagar, Nisha Kapoor, Ritu Mahajan*
School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, Jammu-180016 (India) *Author for correspondence email address: ritufeb@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The positive effect of bioactive compounds present in plants has been exploited in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. However, over-exploitation of germplasm and poor extraction methods cause difficulty in obtaining these compounds directly from the plants. Hence, elicitation has emerged as an effective strategy for in vitro plant cultures to enhance the metabolite production. Use of metal oxide nanoparticles as novel elicitors is an appropriate choice for secondary metabolite production due to their non toxic and stable nature. Thus in the present review, the mechanism and knowledge gaps in the field of nano-elicitiation for secondary metabolite production has been discussed.