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Secondary Metabolites of Traditional Medical Plants: A Case Study of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

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Applied Plant Cell Biology

Part of the book series: Plant Cell Monographs ((CELLMONO,volume 22))

Abstract

Ashwagandha is an important traditional medical plant and has been used for more than 3,000 years in Ayurveda and traditional medicine. Ashwagandha is used extensively for pharmacological and medical purposes. Therefore, the plant has attracted scientific attention worldwide. The medicinal properties of Ashwagandha are attributed to specific secondary metabolites such as alkaloids and withsteroids–withanolides. Withanolides are C28 steroidal structures built on an ergostane framework with oxidation at C22 and C26 to form a lactone ring. Withanolides are biosynthesised through the triterpenoid source pathway, and during recent years, tremendous progress in understanding withanolide biosynthesis and genomics has been achieved. This chapter provides a glimpse on major secondary metabolites from Ashwagandha, their distribution, occurrence, biosynthesis, genomics, and biotechnology.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Mr. Awadesh Srivastava and the scholars of the laboratory who have worked on Ashwagandha and contributed to various dissertations, thesis, and publications. They gratefully acknowledge New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI), New Delhi, and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi (BT/PR10715/AGR/36/602/2008), for providing the financial grants to carry out various studies in author’s laboratory producing several observations cited in the article. They also gratefully acknowledge the constant encouragement and support provided by Director CSIR-CIMAP.

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  1. Metabolic and Structural Biology Department, CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), PO CIMAP, Lucknow, 226015, India

    Neelam S. Sangwan & Rajender Singh Sangwan

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  1. Neelam S. Sangwan
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  2. Rajender Singh Sangwan
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Correspondence to Neelam S. Sangwan .

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  1. Botanical Institute, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Peter Nick

  2. Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Zdeněk Opatrny

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Sangwan, N.S., Sangwan, R.S. (2014). Secondary Metabolites of Traditional Medical Plants: A Case Study of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). In: Nick, P., Opatrny, Z. (eds) Applied Plant Cell Biology. Plant Cell Monographs, vol 22. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41787-0_11

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