Salvia Species: Biotechnological Strategies Applied to In Vitro Cultures for the Controlled Production of Bioactive Diterpenoids

Plant secondary metabolites have great applications in the nutritional and cosmetic aspects of human health. Terpenes, and in particular bioactive diterpenoids, represent an important group of compounds found in Salvia species. Their production in plants is often limited, and chemical synthesis is often not economically feasible. Biotechnological approaches using plant cell and tissue cultures can be routinely established under sterile conditions from explants for biomass production and the extraction of secondary metabolites. The biosynthesis and accumulation of bioactive diterpenoids in vitro in Salvia cells and tissues can be enhanced by strain improvement, techniques to select high-producing cell lines, optimisation of the growth medium, use of specific precursors or elicitors, induction of their release into the culture medium, and the overexpression of genes. This review analyses the biotechnological techniques applied to the in vitro culture of Salvia cells and tissues to enhance the production and accumulation of bioactive diterpenoids and summarises their biological activities.