ABSTRACT
Plants in natural or agricultural ecosystems are continuously subjected to a variety of biotic and abiotic stressors. Secondary metabolites play a key role in the adaptation of plants to the environment and in overcoming stress conditions. Plant growth and productivity in agriculture, as well as plant nutritional potential and metabolic profile in general, are affected by such changes. Pharmaceuticals, food additives, flavors, and industrially essential biochemicals can all be found among secondary metabolites. Abiotic factors, such as temperature extremes, salinity, drought, and heavy metals, impact on plant growth and secondary metabolite production. Under stress, plants produce several secondary metabolites to develop tolerance to stress by influencing key enzymes and steps in biosynthetic pathways. Abiotic stress induces the cell signaling process, resulting in transcriptional upregulation of majorly interlinked, biosynthetic pathways such as the shikimic acid and acetate pathways, thereby improving the stress tolerance of plants. Amino acids produced in the shikimate pathway are the precursors of a range of secondary metabolites. This chapter elucidates the effects of various abiotic stresses on secondary metabolite production in plants.
