Application of bioreactor technology in plant propagation and secondary metabolite production

Plant tissue cultures have been widely used in both fundamental and applied types of research on various biological species, and the scientific interest to transfer that technology in industrial scale has been rapidly growing. The use of in vitro technology for commercial propagation of different plant species and the production of bioactive compounds from them has become profitable industry worldwide. In the past decades, the progress in plant tissue culture technology was directed towards the introduction of the liquid medium for cultivation under submerged conditions in different bioreactor types, and automation of the entire process. Some applications of modified bioreactor systems and their importance for the advancement of plant biotechnology in the fields of agriculture, medicine, and pharmacy are discussed in this review.