EXPLOITING PLANT STRESS PATTERNS AS A WAY TO INCREASE SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION IN MEDICINAL PLANTS

With the growing popularity of phytotherapy, increasing the production of medicinal substances in plants has become more relevant.This two-stage review explores the hypothesis that growth bifurcations in stress-tolerant plants, induced by temperature or other stressors, drive the synthesis and accumulation of medicinal substances.Previous studies by the authors on Poaceae family plants (e.g., Festuca pratensis) indicate that at critical levels of stressors, a sudden blockage of meristematic growth occurs.This bifurcation mechanism may redirect carbon compounds in medicinal plants from biomass formation to the synthesis of protective compounds, including secondary metabolites.The review then focuses on stress-tolerant monocotyledonous medicinal plants commonly found in Lithuania, which are expected to exhibit growth bifurcations and increased secondary metabolite production.Stress tolerance as a criterion within ecological strategies is used to select and analyze these research subjects.Using Vavilov's law of homologous series and modern systematics, the study prioritizes monocotyledonous plant families and genera that are phylogenetically closer to the Poaceae family, such as Festuca, in which growth bifurcations are more likely to occur.Consequently, this approach could integrate various aspects of medicinal plant breeding, cultivation, harvesting, and the practical use of secondary metabolites in phytotherapy.