Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides consisting of d-glucopyranose units bound via α-(1,4)-glycosidic linkages. They are obtained from starch enzymatic degradation by the action of cyclodextrinases or glycosyltransferases. Among the modified-cyclodextrins, 2-hydroxypropylated and methylated β-cyclodextrins are produced on industrial scale. Particularly, methylated β-cyclodextrins are more suitable than native β-cyclodextrins to form stable inclusion complexes with organic molecules of low molecular weight, making these complexes more soluble in aqueous solutions. Cyclodextrins have often been considered useful carriers of antitumor- and immuno-regulatory drugs, and they have also been used as additives for food industry. It is also important to note that cyclodextrins are used for improving bioactive compound production in plant cell cultures because of cyclodextrins ability as “hosts” of bioactive compounds favoring their accumulation in aqueous media. In fact, the treatment of plant cell cultures with cyclodextrins and their derivatives increases the production of secondary metabolites such as resveratrol, ajmalicine, serpentine, lutein, arachidin, among other antioxidant compounds, enhancing the capability of plant in vitro cultures to produce high levels of different bioactive compounds which have beneficial properties for human health. In addition, metabolomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic studies have been carried out on both control and cyclodextrins-treated cell cultures offering important clues about how cyclodextrins are capable of substantially increasing the production of bioactive compounds in plant in vitro cultures. This review focuses on the effect of cyclodextrins on both bioactive compound production and their accumulation, which could be of great interest for chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

环糊精是由d组成的环状寡糖-吡喃葡萄糖单元通过α-（1,4）-糖苷键结合。它们是通过环糊精或糖基转移酶的作用从淀粉酶促降解获得的。在改性的环糊精中，以工业规模生产2-羟丙基化和甲基化的β-环糊精。特别地，甲基化的β-环糊精比天然的β-环糊精更适合与低分子量的有机分子形成稳定的包合配合物，从而使这些配合物更易溶于水溶液。环糊精通常被认为是抗肿瘤和免疫调节药物的有用载体，它们还被用作食品工业的添加剂。同样重要的是要注意，由于环糊精作为生物活性化合物的“宿主”，有利于它们在水介质中的积累，因此环糊精被用于改善植物细胞培养物中生物活性化合物的生产。实际上，用环糊精及其衍生物处理植物细胞培养物会增加次生代谢产物的生成，例如白藜芦醇，阿马利辛，蛇纹石，叶黄素，花生四烯酸等抗氧化剂，从而增强了植物体外培养物产生高水平植物毒素的能力。对人体健康具有有益特性的各种生物活性化合物。此外，代谢组学，转录组学，已经在对照和环糊精处理的细胞培养物中进行了蛋白质组学研究，并提供了有关环糊精如何能够实质上增加植物体外培养物中生物活性化合物产量的重要线索。这篇综述集中在环糊精对生物活性化合物的生产及其积累的影响上，这对于化学和制药行业可能会引起极大的兴趣。