Plant tissue culture--an opportunity for the production of nutraceuticals

This chapter provides a short discussion about the opportunity to cultivate in vitro plant tissue of species which synthesize secondary metabolites of nutraceutical interest. The introduction of species of particular interest in cultivation and domestication, can be an alternative to the harvest of wild species. In vitro culture techniques are a useful tool to improve production and marketing nutraceutical species which allows to make a rapid clonal propagation of plants selected for their active principles. The techniques of tissue culture are described in detail. In particular, it is underlined the necessity to clone selected plants and produce true-type plants when standardized plant products are the main goal. This can be reached by conventional micropropagation protocols culturing plants in vitro through the five culture phases. Another approach consists in applying unconventional systems in the last phase of in vitro culture which permit to develop autotrophy of the explants. Autotrophic growth improves the quality of the multiplied shoots and facilitates the acclimatization of the plantlets.