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Review
. 2025 Mar 10;261(4):84.
doi: 10.1007/s00425-025-04655-8.

Trends in plant tissue culture, production, and secondary metabolites enhancement of medicinal plants: a case study of thyme

Aicha Nordine  1
Affiliations
Review

Trends in plant tissue culture, production, and secondary metabolites enhancement of medicinal plants: a case study of thyme

Aicha Nordine. Planta. .

Abstract

Thymus plants are greatly threatened by overharvesting and climate change. Plant cell and tissue culture techniques provide effective alternatives for the production and the enhancement of both biomass and bioactive compounds. Medicinal and aromatic plants are rich sources of various bioactive compounds known as secondary metabolites, which are used across a range of fields, including medicinal, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, agrochemicals and agrofood industries. Thyme is considered one of the most popular herbs globally, valued for its significant medicinal, pharmaceutical, and nutritional benefits. However, its natural habitats are rapidly diminishing due to excessive harvesting and climate change. Consequently, several approaches have been developed to find alternatives to harvesting wild thyme. Plant cell and tissue culture techniques offer a superior alternative to traditional propagation methods, such as seeds, cuttings, or tuft division. These techniques enable the production of large quantities of uniform, disease-free plantlets for commercial cultivation and facilitate the development of new genotypes. Additionally, they support the production and enhancement of bioactive compounds from thyme plants. This review explores the application of plant cell, tissue, and organ culture biotechnology in thyme plants, focusing on enhancing production and improving secondary metabolite yields and biomass production.

Keywords: In vitro culture; Biotechnology plant; Chemical compounds; Genus Thymus; Plant cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The author declares that there is no conflict of interest. The author alone was responsible for the accuracy and the integrity of the paper content.

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