~ 246 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2018; SP3: 246-251 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2018; SP3: 246-251 Chandana BC Assistant Professor (Contract), Department of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Nagaveni HC Assistant Professor (Contract), Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Kumari Assistant Professor (Contract), Department of Plant Pathology, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Lakshmana D Profesor and Head, Department of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Shashikala S Kolakar Assistant Professor, Department Of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Heena MS Assistant Professor, KVK, Indi, Bijapur, Karnataka, India Correspondence Chandana BC Assistant Professor (Contract), Department of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, COH, Mudigere, Karnataka, India National conference on “Conservation, Cultivation and Utilization of medicinal and Aromatic plants" (College of Horticulture, Mudigere Karnataka, 2018) Role of plant tissue culture in micropropagation, secondary metabolites production and conservation of some endangered medicinal crops Chandana BC, Nagaveni HC, Kumari, Lakshmana D, Shashikala S Kolakar and Heena MS Abstract Tissue culture technology is potent and has opened extensive areas of research for micropropogation, secondary metabolite production and biodiversity conservation. Plant in vitro regeneration is a biotechnological tool that offers a tremendous potential solution for the propagation of endangered and superior genotypes of medicinal plants which could be released to their natural habitat or cultivated on a large scale for the pharmaceutical product of interest. Tissue culture protocols have been developed for a wide range of medicinal plants, which includes endangered, rare and threatened plant species. A review highlighting various in vitro protocols developed for some of the endangered medicinal species has been done to highlight the significance of plant tissue cuture in cases where regeneration through conventional methods is difficult to undertake and species are left with low population in the wild. Thus in vitro cell and tissue culture methodology is envisaged as a mean for germplasm conservation to ensure the survival of endangered plant species, rapid mass propagation for large scale re-vegetation and for enhancing the production of secondary metabolites. Keywords: In vitro culture, microproprogation, secondary metabolites, in vitro conservation Introduction Medicinal plants have been the subjects of man’s curiosity since time immemorial (Constable, 1990) [12] . Almost every civilization has a history of medicinal plant use (Ensminger et al., 1983) [15] . Plants are the tremendous source of a wide range of secondary metabolites, which are used as base materials in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavors, fragrances, colors, biopesticides and food additives. Alkaloids, carbon compounds, hydrogen, nitrogen, glycosides, essential oils, fatty oils, resins, mucilage, tannins and gums are some of the important chemical substances found in plants. Most of these substances are potent bioactive compounds which can be used for therapeutic purpose or which act as the precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs (Sofowora, 1993) [42] . Medicinal herbs are moving from fringe to mainstream use with a greater number of people seeking remedies and health approaches free from side effects caused by synthetic chemicals. Approximately 80% of the people in the developing countries rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs, and about 85% of traditional medicine involves the use of plant extracts (Vieira and Skorupa, 1993) [46] . India has 2.4% of world’s area with 8% of global biodiversity and it is one of the 12th mega diversity hotspot countries of the world with a rich diversity of biotic resources. India is richly endowed with a wide variety of plants having medicinal value. About 2500 plant species belonging to more than 1000 genera are used by traditional healers and about 500 plant species are utilized by 159 different pharmaceutical companies. With the ever increasing global inclination towards herbal medicine there is an obligatory demand for huge raw material of medical plants. The genetic biodiversity of traditional medicinal plants is under a continuous threat due to over exploitation environment, unfriendly harvesting, loss of growth habitat and unmonitored trade of medicinal plants. It is increasingly difficult to acquire plant-derived compounds with the rapid increase in population and extreme pressure on the available cultivable land. The harvest of medicinal plants on a mass scale from