Production of Bioactive Phytochemicals from Ethnomedicinal Plant Endophytic Microorganisms

Abstract

Ethnomedicinal plants are extensively explored for the discovery of new bioactive phytochemicals with applications in agrochemical, food and pharmaceutical industries. This could lead to extinction of some endangered plant species, hence the need for new phytochemical production strategies. Medicinal plant-associated microbial endophytes act as a promising eco-friendly source of high-valued bioactive phytochemicals. Numerous reports have focused on bioprospecting of endophytes for novel or existing biomolecules. However, investigations on novel production techniques of endophytes for high-value-low volume secondary metabolites are extremely limited. Moreover, the exploration of bacterial and actinomycete endophytes as phytochemical sources has not been fully elucidated. This chapter highlights the diversity, distribution, and bioactivity of phytochemicals in ethnomedicinal plant-associated endophytes isolated between 2014 and 2024. Additionally, recent advances in biotechnological exploration and strain improvement techniques such as genome editing of endophytes for enhanced in vitro production of bioactive secondary metabolites are discussed.