In Vitro Culture Systems of Rosa damascena Mill. and Their Role in Secondary Metabolite Production

Rosa damascena Mill. is a medicinal and aromatic species of major pharmacological and economic importance, widely valued for its complex profile of bioactive secondary metabolites. While extensive research has focused on field-grown plants and essential oils, comparatively little attention has been devoted to the behavior of R. damascena under in vitro conditions. Plant tissue culture systems provide controlled platforms for investigating secondary metabolism independently of environmental variability; however, their application to R. damascena has produced heterogeneous and often inconsistent results. This review examines the main in vitro culture systems developed for R. damascena, including callus, suspension, and organ-derived cultures, with emphasis on their capacity to accumulate secondary metabolites. Available evidence indicates that undifferentiated cultures generally fail to reproduce the full metabolic complexity observed in planta, particularly for volatile monoterpenes associated with tissue specialization. Nevertheless, several studies demonstrate that in vitro systems can accumulate phenolic compounds with relevant biological activities, supporting their use as experimental models for investigating metabolic regulation. By integrating early studies with recent advances in plant biotechnology, this review highlights current limitations, unresolved questions, and future perspectives for the use of R. damascena in vitro cultures in medicinal plant research.