Examples
are selected to highlight recent research relevant to various
aspects of traditional and modern human exploitation of
plant terpenoids: (i) menthol (Figure 1), a monoterpenoid
that is produced and harvested in large amounts from
peppermint (Mentha · piperita) as an agricultural farm crop;
(ii) artemisinin (Figure 1), an anti-malarial sesquiterpenoid
pharmaceutical from annual wormwood (Artemisia annua)
that is being explored for production in metabolically
engineered microbial fermentation systems and transgenic
plants; (iii) abietic acid and related diterpene resin acids
(Figure 1) as a biological feedstock from conifers (Pinaceae)
for a large chemical industry that relies to a substantial
extent on century-old means of rosin collection; and (iv)
Taxol (Figure 1), a high-value diterpenoid-derived anti-cancer
drug of limited supply from its initial natural source, the
bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia).