Temporary immersion system for production of biomass and bioactive compounds from medicinal plants

The cultivation of medicinal plants and the production of bioactive compounds derived from them are of fundamental importance and interest, not only at the pharmacological level but also in nutraceutical and cosmetic industries and in functional foods, as well as plant protection in agriculture. In order to respond adequately to the increased demands of the global market from a quantitative and qualitative point of view and to guarantee environmental sustainability of the productions, it is necessary to resort to innovation tools, such as tissue culture in vitro technology. Nowadays, it is well known that the cultivation through the Temporary Immersion System (TIS) in a bioreactor has considerable advantages both for the in vitro mass production of the plants and for the production of secondary metabolites. The present review focuses on the application of TIS during the last two decades to produce biomass and bioactive compounds from medicinal plants. Indeed, almost one hundred papers are discussed, and they particularly focus on the effects of the culture system, vessel design and equipment, immersion time and frequency, and substrate composition for 88 medicinal species in TIS bioreactor culture.