Abiotic stress response of medicinally potential <italic>Curcuma</italic> spp. in changing climate: Do we have enough clues?

Changing climate imposes abiotic stress factors, including salinity, flood, drought, high and low temperature, and light as well as heavy metals on medicinal plants. Plants respond to stress in terms of growth and biosynthesis of metabolites. The rhizomatous genus <italic>Curcuma</italic> has been extensively used in traditional or folk medicine worldwide and its therapeutic potential relies on its phyto-constituents. A discrete array of literature depicts negative effects on growth and alterations in yield of secondary metabolites under abiotic stress. However, one complete and precise document on the response of <italic>Curcuma</italic> spp. towards abiotic stress and their molecular mechanism is lacking. Hence, this review has been prepared by pulling together the published information on the abiotic stress response as well as the future research prospects on the <italic>Curcuma</italic> spp. along with other related rhizomatous plants of the family Zingiberaceae, to obtain prospective clues on possible responses of these medicinally potential species in the verge of changing climate. We have also highlighted the stress mitigation strategies employed by these plants in the light of available literature and by comparing with information on related species of Zingiberaceae family. We have focused on the urgency of multiomics approaches to find out the genetic and biochemical strategies of <italic>Curcuma</italic> spp. to cope with stress as well as emphasized for conservation of rare and endangered species of <italic>Curcuma</italic>. This review will be helpful for plant physiologists, farmers, pharmaceutical industries, and policy makers, to implement better plans and policies regarding uninterrupted commercial yield of <italic>Curcuma</italic> secondary metabolites in changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]