Yali Deng , Meifang Li

Tropical Medicinal Plant Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Medicinal Plant Research, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 6   doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0029
Received: 06 Oct., 2025    Accepted: 10 Nov., 2025    Published: 15 Dec., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Deng Y.L., and Li M.F., 2025, Agronomic practices and secondary metabolite accumulation in Salvia miltiorrhiza, Medicinal Plant Research, 15(6): 274-282 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0029)

Salvia miltiorrhiza, known as Danshen, is an important medicinal herb, whose main secondary metabolites including tanshinones and salvianolic acids are considered responsible for antioxidant activity, cardiovascular protection, among other pharmacological effects. The agronomic practices of light exposure, temperature, water management, soil nutrient fertilization, planting density, pruning, cultivation patterns, and plant hormone regulation can affect the accumulation of such secondary metabolites. Using multi-omics techniques such as transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, regulatory networks related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis have been unveiled, as well as signaling pathways. Those studies provided a theoretical basis for optimization in agronomic practices. Taking into consideration different environmental factors and control methods of cultivation management that would affect the accumulation of secondary metabolites of Danshen, this study systematically summarizes the results, explains the key regulatory factors and potential synergistic interactions, and then discusses strategies for integrating the best agronomic practices with corresponding molecular studies to promote high-yield, high-quality, sustainable production. Through a synthesis of the current research achievements, the study lays a theoretical foundation for standard cultivation and industrial utilization of the active ingredients of Danshen.

Salvia miltiorrhiza; Secondary metabolites; Agronomic practices; Biosynthetic regulation; Standardized cultivation