Plants are sessile organisms, and the constant monitoring of environmental changes is needed for them to modify, adjust, and adapt their development and metabolism accordingly. The response to these environmental stimuli requires a multi-integral mechanism where internal and external signals are detected and cause an appropriate reaction in the plant. According to the medium in which the roots develop, soilless cultivation systems are classified into three groups: cultivation in (1) substrate, (2) water (hydroponics), and (3) air (aeroponics).
In particular, aeroponics is the most modern hydroponic system. The main advantage that aeroponics offers is the excellent aeration it provides to roots. Aeroponics has been used with great success in plant propagation and, more specifically, in the propagation of cuttings of herbaceous or woody species that are difficult to root. This is an agricultural production technique in which plants are grown without the use of soil, and nutrients are delivered through a liquid solution. In soilless cultivation, the soil is replaced by an inert substrate, and the nutrients needed by the plant to grow are delivered via irrigation. Organoponics is a form of urban agricultural production with one of the greatest impacts in terms of production volume per farm area.
The variety of fresh vegetables and condiments at lower prices marketed based on supply and demand, together with the jobs generated and the productive use of otherwise wasted space, are key advantages that the use of this technique provides. On the other hand, this technology represents a form of intensive production based on the extensive use of organic fertilizers, which are applied in areas with infertile soils or with serious limitations for their exploitation, and even on artificial surfaces created specifically for this activity. Therefore, this chapter aims to (a) describe the background of aeroponics, hydroponics, and organoponics, (b) indicate the main medicinal plants that have been identified as candidates for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and (c) understand how the incursion of sustainable economic systems are efficient and effective methods to counteract the effects of biotic and abiotic stress in medicinal plants.
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Valdez, Luis-Germán & Herrera-Cabrera, Braulio & Garcia, Irma & Salazar-Magallón, Jesús & Salgado-Garciglia, Rafael & Montoya, Jorge & Sanchez-Herrera, Leticia & Ocaño-Higuera, Víctor & Barrales-Cureño, Hebert Jair. (2022). Sustainable Economic Systems Against Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Medicinal Plants: Aeroponics, Hydroponics, and Organoponics. 10.1007/978-3-030-92050-0_13.