Progress and Prospects in Breeding Research on Key Aromatic Species of the Lamiaceae Family

Aromatic herbs of the family Lamiaceae are mainly represented by several economically important genera in the subfamily Nepetoideae, including Mentha, Ocimum, Origanum, Rosmarinus, Thymus, Lavandula, and Perilla. These plants originated mainly in the Mediterranean region, Southwest Asia, and tropical America, and are now widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. This paper systematically reviews the global history of breeding within this taxonomic group of, key aromatic genera of Lamiaceae synthesizes the patterns of its utilization and dissemination, and divides its development and evolution into four key phases: The first phase is the pre-breeding stage (before 1000 BCE), driven primarily by basic human survival needs, during which wild resources were utilized directly without the development of artificial cultivation or directed selection; The second stage is the early introduction and preliminary domestication stage (1000–500 BCE), during which the expansion of ancient trade facilitated the cross-regional dissemination of species, and the domestication of germplasm began through simple phenotypic selection under artificial cultivation; The third phase is the conventional breeding stage, from 500 BCE to the late 20th century, which was driven by increasing commercial demand. During this period, clonal selection, phenotypic selection, and hybridization were gradually developed and widely applied, enabling the stable retention of desirable traits and the formation of diverse regionally distinctive local germplasm. The fourth phase is the modern molecular breeding stage, from the 21st century to the present, which has developed alongside scientific and technological advances. This stage includes molecular breeding strategies based on genome sequencing, identification of genes associated with essential oil biosynthesis and stress tolerance, and marker-assisted selection. However, despite significant progress in the breeding of these key aromatic plant genera of Lamiaceae, the commercialization process still faces multiple bottlenecks: low genetic conversion efficiency in most species, scarcity of genomic resources for niche groups, lengthy traditional breeding cycles, and the lack of a comprehensive germplasm evaluation system, as well as the fragmentation of phenotype-genotype association databases. Future research priorities include: (1) establishing a globally standardized database of Lamiaceae aromatic germplasm resources; (2) integrating multi-omics approaches, including transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, to elucidate the genetic regulatory networks underlying essential oil biosynthesis and stress resistance; and (3) optimizing gene-editing and genetic transformation protocols for both major and underutilized aromatic Lamiaceae species. This review provides a historical and theoretical framework for the genetic improvement, germplasm utilization, and industrial development of key aromatic genera of Lamiaceae.