Research, inventiveness and biotechnological advances in the production of value-added alkaloids occurring in tropical species.

• At least 109 families and 481 tropical species alkaloids-containing were studied. • More than 3000 patents for tropical plant alkaloids have been filed over 20 years. • Pathway elucidation is the principal bottleneck in biosynthesis engineering. • Alkaloid content has been modified by genetic engineering. • Use of elicitors promote higher concentration of different classes of alkaloids. Alkaloids are compounds with wide occurrence in plant species and have been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. Industries demand high amounts of these metabolites and their improved production has been achieved due to recent advances in biotechnological techniques. In order to verify the scenario of studies and innovation in alkaloids occurring in tropical species, we surveyed in the Scopus and Espacenet databases, all research papers and patents on this theme. Our survey highlighted that at least 109 families and 481 tropical species were examined for the presence of alkaloids in the last 24 years. In addition, we found that approximately 3,400 patents have been filed in the last 20 years. However, contributions from tropical countries are lower than those from countries outside the region. Finally, we highlight the effort within the most varied biotechnological approaches that have been used to produce and increase the concentration of alkaloids in tropical plants. Although many advances have been made in recent years, challenges such as elucidating pathways in different species, adapting new techniques, discovering new expression vectors with greater compatibility, and elicitation studies for the production of alkaloids in tropical plants still need to be resolved and discussed by the scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]