Pooja Jaiswal
Anand Vikram Singh
Vinod Kumar Yadav
Ajay Kumar
Nishi Kumari

Drugs produced by plants and herbal medicines have been used since ancient times to treat human and animal diseases, and at present several countries still rely on herbs and plants as the main sources of drugs. Plants are also considered as biofactories for the production of phytochemicals. Phytomedicines have emerged as cost-effective, eco-friendly, and better alternative of synthetic medicines. Their negligible or absent side effects have drawn the attention of many plant scientists to explore such phytochemicals. Tissue culture technology is now considered a highly efficient tool for the production of such phytochemicals under controlled conditions. Plants are a rich source of various secondary metabolites such as polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, and saponins, and are broadly utilized in the prevention of human ailments. This chapter summarizes the role of phytochemicals for their ability to provide health benefits, and pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and agrochemical role.