Abstract: The secondary metabolites of medicinal plants have a wide application prospect in medicine and food industry, but the utilization rate of natural secondary metabolites is low, so the hairy root culture technique appeared in 1980s provides a new and effective way for the production of secondary metabolites in medicinal plant. At present, some secondary metabolites such as saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids and quinones have been produced by hairy root culture. The elicitor not only can promote the excessive accumulation of secondary metabolites in hairy roots of medicinal plants, but also can reduce the production cost of secondary metabolites. To a certain extent, the resources of rare and endangered medicinal plants are protected, thus realizing the sustainable development of the resources. Therefore, the technique of using elicitors to treat hairy roots of medicinal plants for promoting the excessive accumulation of secondary metabolites has been widely concerned at home and abroad. In this paper, the classification of elicitors and their mechanism of action in the synthesis of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants were introduced, and the current status of their research and application was reviewed, so as to provide some references for the related research and application.

Key words: hairy root, elicitor, medicinal plant, secondary metabolites