Merging Biotechnology with Non-Food Plants for Medicinal Purposes

Theoni Margaritopoulou*

Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

*Corresponding Author: Theoni Margaritopoulou, Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Received: September 29, 2017; Published: October 03, 2017

Citation: Theoni Margaritopoulou. “Merging Biotechnology with Non-Food Plants for Medicinal Purposes”. Acta Scientific Agriculture 2.1 (2018).

  Agriculture is approximately a 10,000 years ago human practice and is estimated that more than 7,000 species are to satisfy basic human needs [1]. The primitive crop cultivars were adapted to local growing conditions and practices, and therefore remained genetically diverse for traits such as product qualities, stress tolerance, disease resistance, and yield stability. By contrast, modern crop cultivars are more genetically uniform than their wild relatives [2]. Nowadays, biodiversity is increasingly being recognized as a vital resource for economic, social and environmental development. Plant germplasm provides the raw materials we rely upon for food, fiber, energy, medicinal and industrial products. Plant genetic diversity increases options and may provide innovative, plant-based solutions to the major environmental challenges that we all face - food security, water scarcity, deforestation, energy and climate change.

Copyright: © 2018 Theoni Margaritopoulou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.