Rauvolfia serpentina (L). Benth. ex Kurz., commonly known as
Sarpagandha (Indian snakewood), of the family Apocynaceae, is a medicinally
important woody shrub. Since ancient times, the root of this shrub has been used for
treating numerous diseases, especially hypertension, mental agitation and
cardiovascular diseases. In addition to eighty different alkaloids, all well-known for
their pharmaceutical properties, the plant also contains reserpine, recognized as the
world's first antihypertensive drug. Thus, the demand for this plant has only grown in
the pharmaceutical industry. However, overexploitation and abysmal traditional
propagation methods have endangered this valuable species' natural vegetation,
creating an unpleasant gap between the demand and availability. In this scenario, the in
vitro micropropagation technique comes as an alternative strategy to help replenish this
threatened shrub's natural vegetation loss and commercial needs. Furthermore, the
beneficial features of the plant tissue culture technique by providing genetically
uniformed disease-free true-to-type plant propagation within a short time, and
conserving elite variety plantlets makes this technique an inevitable tool for the rapid
production of economically important plants in the 21st century. Therefore, this chapter
focuses on the different in vitro plant tissue culture techniques applied to regenerate R.
serpentina plants. In addition, the roles of various physical and chemical factors that
could affect the regeneration rate, geographical distribution, bioactive compounds and
their bioactivity have also been discussed. The comprehensive data could be helpful for
further studies on this valuable plant.
Keywords: Bioactive compounds, Micropropagation, Organogenesis, Pharmacology, Rauvolfia serpentina, Somatic Embryogenesis.
