Advances in Plant-Derived Pharmaceuticals: Exploring Secondary Metabolites for Therapeutic Innovation

Plants have long been central to bioactive compound discovery, with many secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and phenolics playing vital roles in plant defense and human health. Recent advances in metabolomics, biotechnology, and synthetic biology offer new insights into these compounds, revealing their vast potential in pharmaceutical applications. This field has witnessed significant progress in understanding how these natural substances can be used in medicinal contexts, prompting ongoing debates and investigations into their biosynthesis and regulation. However, there remain substantial gaps in optimizing their sustainable production and fully deciphering the molecular mechanisms that drive their activity.

This Research Topic aims to spotlight the latest discoveries and technological innovations related to the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, explore their pharmacological applications, and develop strategies for sustainable production. We are particularly interested in identifying novel bioactive compounds, improving production methodologies, and elucidating the detailed molecular mechanisms that govern their synthesis. This will address the rising demand for plant-derived pharmaceuticals and enhance our capabilities in drug development.

To gather further insights into the realm of plant-based pharmaceuticals and secondary metabolites, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Genetic and metabolic pathways involved in secondary metabolite production
• Role of transcription factors and signaling molecules in metabolite regulation
• Traditional medicine versus modern drug development
• Omics approaches (metabolomics, genomics, transcriptomics) for metabolite discovery
• Identification and characterization of novel bioactive compounds
• Plant cell culture, genetic engineering, and synthetic biology for metabolite synthesis
• Sustainable extraction and green chemistry approaches
• Effect of climate change, soil conditions, and microbial interactions on secondary metabolite production

This Research Topic encourages submissions of original research articles, reviews, and mini-reviews. All submissions will undergo rigorous peer review to ensure quality and contribution to the field.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Secondary metabolites, Plant-derived pharmaceuticals, Biosynthesis, Metabolomics, Pharmacological applications, Biotechnology, Synthetic biology, Bioactive compounds, Sustainable production, green chemistry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.