An Untapped Resource in the Spotlight of Medicinal Biotechnology: The Genus Scutellaria

Title:An Untapped Resource in the Spotlight of Medicinal Biotechnology: The Genus Scutellaria

Volume: 19 Issue: 5

Author(s): Izabela Grzegorczyk-Karolak*, Aneta Wiktorek-Smagur and Katarzyna Hnatuszko-Konka*

Affiliation:

• Department of Biology and Pharmaceutical Botany, Medical University of Lodz, Muszynskiego 1, 90-151 Lodz,Poland

• Department of Genetics, Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz,Poland

Keywords: Scutellaria genus, metabolite production, micropropagation, tissue and organ culture, genetic transformation, bioreactors.

Abstract: Background: This review is intended to draw the attention of pharmaceutical and biotechnological communities to the untapped potential of the Scutellaria genus. Skullcaps, as they are more widely known, are found in one of the oldest materia medica in the world, that of ancient Chinese pharmacology, and their numerous wide range of medicinal bioactivities have been studied both in vivo and in vitro. For thousands of years, chemical compounds from the Scutellaria species have been safely used as antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant or hepatoprotective factors.

Objective: As these effects are well known, reflected in the presence of Scutellaria plants in national pharmacopoeias, it is clear that the plant has yet enormous unexploited potential. The European pharmacological market has turned to the resources of Scutellaria only in the last two decades, and although the construction and clinical processing of a new drug is a long process, the general impression is that very few medical products in pharmacies have been inspired by the phytochemistry of skullcaps.

Conclusion: This paper presents the current state of knowledge on the wealth of Scutellaria chemical compounds with treatment applications, its tissue culture and biotechnological achievements, especially in the context of the production of secondary metabolites.

Cite this article as:

Grzegorczyk-Karolak Izabela *, Wiktorek-Smagur Aneta and Hnatuszko-Konka Katarzyna *, An Untapped Resource in the Spotlight of Medicinal Biotechnology: The Genus Scutellaria, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 2018; 19 (5) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389201019666180626105402