Chapter 15
Plants as Bioreactors for Human Health
Nutrients
Luis Alfredo Cruz-Ramírez, Jesús Agustín García-Ramírez,
Felix Edgardo Rico-Resendiz, Alfonso Membrilla-Ochoa,
Janette Alonso-Herrada, Tania Escobar-Feregrino, Irineo
Torres-Pacheco, Ramon Guevara-Gonzalez, Juan Campos-Guillén,
Maribel Valdez-Morales and Andrés Cruz Hernández
Abstract One of the biggest challenges in the coming years is to reduce the impact
of chronic diseases. Unhealthy eating is an increasing problem and underlies much of
the increase in mortality from chronic diseases that are occurring worldwide. Diets
based on plant foods are strongly associated with reduced risks in major chronic
diseases, but the constituents in plants that promote health have proved difficult to
identify. Plant cells have been used, in the past two decades, as efficient host systems
with great potential for the expression of foreign proteins and for the production of
nonprotein bioactive small molecules. Till date, the systems implemented include a
variety of approaches using whole plants, plant tissue cultures, and cell cultures for
the synthesis of a myriad of compounds that include foreign protein expression for
the production of antibodies and vaccines. Plant cells have also been used as bioreactors for the massive production on plant-derived bioactive small molecules
which are important dietary components or used in the industry as pharmaceuticals,
pesticides, flavors, and fragrances. Plant genetics and metabolic engineering can be
used to make foods that differ only in their content of specific phytonutrients.
L. A. Cruz-Ramírez
Unidad de Genómica Avanzada (LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV sede Irapuato, Apdo Postal
629 36500 Irapuato, Guanjuato, Mexico
J. A. García-Ramírez Á F. E. Rico-Resendiz Á A. Membrilla-Ochoa Á J. Alonso-Herrada Á
I. Torres-Pacheco Á R. Guevara-Gonzalez Á A. Cruz Hernández (&)
Laboratorio de Biosistemas, Unidad de Microbiología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Campus
Aeropuerto, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro,
Querétaro, Mexico
e-mail: andrex1998@hotmail.com; andres.cruz@uaq.mx
T. Escobar-Feregrino Á J. Campos-Guillén
Licenciatura en Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Campus Aeropuerto,
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
M. Valdez-Morales
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud e Ingenierías, Campus Celaya-Salvatierra,
Universidad de Guanajuato, 38030 Celaya, Guanjuato, Mexico
R. Guevara-Gonzalez and I. Torres-Pacheco (eds.), Biosystems Engineering:
Biofactories for Food Production in the Century XXI, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03880-3_15,
Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
423
Plants as Bioreactors for Human Health
Nutrients
Luis Alfredo Cruz-Ramírez, Jesús Agustín García-Ramírez,
Felix Edgardo Rico-Resendiz, Alfonso Membrilla-Ochoa,
Janette Alonso-Herrada, Tania Escobar-Feregrino, Irineo
Torres-Pacheco, Ramon Guevara-Gonzalez, Juan Campos-Guillén,
Maribel Valdez-Morales and Andrés Cruz Hernández
Abstract One of the biggest challenges in the coming years is to reduce the impact
of chronic diseases. Unhealthy eating is an increasing problem and underlies much of
the increase in mortality from chronic diseases that are occurring worldwide. Diets
based on plant foods are strongly associated with reduced risks in major chronic
diseases, but the constituents in plants that promote health have proved difficult to
identify. Plant cells have been used, in the past two decades, as efficient host systems
with great potential for the expression of foreign proteins and for the production of
nonprotein bioactive small molecules. Till date, the systems implemented include a
variety of approaches using whole plants, plant tissue cultures, and cell cultures for
the synthesis of a myriad of compounds that include foreign protein expression for
the production of antibodies and vaccines. Plant cells have also been used as bioreactors for the massive production on plant-derived bioactive small molecules
which are important dietary components or used in the industry as pharmaceuticals,
pesticides, flavors, and fragrances. Plant genetics and metabolic engineering can be
used to make foods that differ only in their content of specific phytonutrients.
L. A. Cruz-Ramírez
Unidad de Genómica Avanzada (LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV sede Irapuato, Apdo Postal
629 36500 Irapuato, Guanjuato, Mexico
J. A. García-Ramírez Á F. E. Rico-Resendiz Á A. Membrilla-Ochoa Á J. Alonso-Herrada Á
I. Torres-Pacheco Á R. Guevara-Gonzalez Á A. Cruz Hernández (&)
Laboratorio de Biosistemas, Unidad de Microbiología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Campus
Aeropuerto, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro,
Querétaro, Mexico
e-mail: andrex1998@hotmail.com; andres.cruz@uaq.mx
T. Escobar-Feregrino Á J. Campos-Guillén
Licenciatura en Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Campus Aeropuerto,
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
M. Valdez-Morales
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud e Ingenierías, Campus Celaya-Salvatierra,
Universidad de Guanajuato, 38030 Celaya, Guanjuato, Mexico
R. Guevara-Gonzalez and I. Torres-Pacheco (eds.), Biosystems Engineering:
Biofactories for Food Production in the Century XXI, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03880-3_15,
Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
423