Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects

TLDR

Medicinal plants are globally valuable herbal sources that are rapidly disappearing. The article reviews global trends, developments, and prospects for strategies and methodologies to conserve and sustainably use medicinal plant resources, aiming to provide a reliable reference. The review highlights in‑situ and ex‑situ conservation, cultivation practices, good agricultural practices, sustainable use solutions, and biotechnical methods—including tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker‑based approaches—to improve yield and potency. The authors recommend applying biotechnical methods such as tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker‑based approaches to enhance yield and modify potency.

Abstract

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a high speed. This article reviews global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. We emphasized that both conservation strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We recommend that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker-based approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.