Biotechnology as a tool for conservation of the biodiversity and the sustainable exploitation of medicinal aromatic species

IANNICELLI, JESICA; GUARINIELLO, JULIÁN; PITTA-ALVAREZ, SANDRA; ESCANDÓN, ALEJANDRO SALVIO

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 8th International Phytoessence and Phytotherapy Congress; 2018

International Society for Phytoessence Science (ISPS)

Medicinal and aromatic plants are biologically and economically valuable species because of their intrinsic value as plants, ability to produce secondary metabolites, possible use in the pharmaceutical and food industries, germplasm availability and applications in traditional medicine. In addition, they hold social and economic importance due to the ancestral knowledge they represent and because they are part of the livelihood of many families. Most of them are collected from the wild and are in serious danger of extinction. Through biotechnological tools it is possible to develop their germplasm and obtain new and improved varieties from wild material, while advocating the alternative of production by cultivation instead of extracting it from nature. The objective of this presentation is to highlight about the dangerous ecological situation of several aromatic-medicinal species and an update on the employment of biotechnological strategies for the populations recovering and sustainable use avoiding their germplasm loss