Plant in vitro systems as sources of tropane alkaloids

Abstract

The number of known tropane alkaloids exceeds 200. They are tertiary or quaternary (N-oxides) bases having in common the tropane nucleus as the key structural element. The tropane alkaloids are mainly distributed in the genera of Solanaceae family and they are frequently used in medicine because of their valuable pharmacological activities. The main representatives of this group of bioactive substances are hyoscyamine (its racemate atropine), scopolamine, and cocaine. These alkaloids have been investigated in details during the last two decades. In this chapter we summarize the knowledge about distribution of tropane alkaloids in plant kingdom and their biosynthetic pathway that has already been elucidated at enzyme and gene level, as well as the methods for their qualification and quantification. Biotechnological approaches for tropane alkaloids production are also discussed in details.