European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ENDOPHYTES: A REVIEW

*Radha Palaniswamy

ABSTRACT

India has one of the oldest, richest and most diverse cultural traditions associated with the use of medicinal plants with nearly about 70% of the medicinal plants found in tropical forests in Eastern and Western Ghats and Himalayas. Medicinal plants are the “backbone” of traditional medicine. Endophytes are an endosymbiotic group of microorganisms that colonize in plants and microbes that can be readily isolated from any microbial or plant growth medium. They act as reservoirs of novel bioactive secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, phenolic acids, quinones, steroids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids that serve as a potential candidate for antimicrobial, anti-insect, anticancer and many more properties. While plant sources are being extensively explored for new chemical entities for therapeutic purposes, endophytic microbes also constitute an important source for drug discovery. Ironically, in today’s world the microorganisms are producing more beneficial components compared to the plants. This review aims to comprehend the contribution and uses of endophytes as an impending source and other possible medicinal use.

Keywords: Endophytes, medicinal plants, plant enzymes, metabolites, endophytic bacteria.