Bioprospecting secondary metabolites from forest trees: Ecological roles, molecular regulation, and sustainable applications

Abstract

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are structurally diverse specialized compounds that mediate plant-environment interactions and play central roles in defense, communication, competition, and stress adaptation. Forest trees, characterized by long lifespans and complex ecological interactions, possess particularly rich and distinctive metabolite profiles, yet remain comparatively underexplored relative to agricultural species. This review synthesizes current advances in the bioprospecting of PSMs from forestry species, integrating knowledge of their major classes, biosynthetic pathways, regulatory mechanisms, and ecological functions. It further highlights recent progress in analytical, metabolomic, and genomic approaches that enable discovery, characterization, and functional interpretation of these compounds. Emerging applications in sustainable forestry are discussed, including plant-derived pest management agents, metabolite-based selection of stress-resilient genotypes, ecological restoration strategies, and the valorization of forest biomass for industrial and pharmaceutical uses. Key challenges such as limited chemodiversity exploration, scalability constraints, data integration, and ethical considerations are also outlined, together with future research priorities emphasizing multi-omics integration, sustainable production systems, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Overall, forest-derived secondary metabolites represent a critical interface between ecological function and applied innovation, offering substantial potential for advancing sustainable forestry and bio-based economies.