In Vitro Culture and Secondary Metabolite Isolation in Bryophytes

Bryophytes, the second largest group of land plants, are extremely rich in terpenoids, phenols, glycosides, and fatty acids. Although bryophytes could be used in medicine, their chemistry is not very well known and the problem remains to obtain enough quantity of same species for analysis. In vitro cultivation of bryophytes is the most appropriate way for large biomass production and isolate of numerous useful compounds showing some interesting biologic activities. This technique is also useful in developmental, cellular, molecular, biochemical, and eco-physiologic studies.