Bioactive metabolite profiling for identification of elite germplasms: a conservation strategy for threatened medicinal plants

Medicinal plants are used as a source of raw drugs, chemical compounds or bioactive metabolites. Many of the medicinal plant species are facing threat of extinction due to indiscriminate harvesting by humans. Conservation of such species is no longer an altruistic choice but a necessity to ensure sustainable supply of bioactive compounds to the drug industry. This article demonstrates that conservation of threatened species is possible through large-scale cultivation of elite germplasm identified using biochemical markers. Six species, viz. Aconitum balfourii Stapf, Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. ex Royle, Podophyllum hexandrum Royle (syn = Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) T. S. Ying), Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Berth., Berberis aristata DC. and Embelia ribes Burm. f. were selected for the study under the all-India coordinated project on threatened species. The approach proved to be effective for bringing back the species from the verge of extinction.