The importance of food quality for human health is well understood. There are several challenges that the world population must face in the imminent future, including climate change, which hinders crop production. Plants synthesize several compounds, named secondary metabolites, which play important roles in the plant’s life, e.g., in the reproduction and establishment of symbiosis, as well as in the response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Besides plants, these molecules also exert a wide range of effects in other living organisms, acting as antimicrobials, antioxidants, and antitumor compounds. The vast and versatile pharmacological effects of medicinal plants are basically dependent on their phytochemical constituents.

We are calling for articles in a new Special Issue of Plants entitled "In Vivo and In Vitro Production for Plant Secondary Metabolites: recent advances and biological applications”. In this Special Issue, we aim to publish research articles and reviews on the different classes of secondary metabolites, as well as their role in plants and in the treatment of human diseases. 

This Special Issue will cover wide research topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

• In vitro mass production and secondary metabolites synthesis;
• Factors affecting the synthesis of secondary metabolites in vivo and in vitro;
• The production and utilization of functional biomolecules for industrial applications;
• The recovery and utilization of useful metabolites from byproduct processing;
• Abiotic and biotic stresses and secondary metabolism in plants.

More information here