In this review, we attempt to highlight the issues related to plant volatile and essential oil studies in connection with drought stress. Our literature search included all publications on drought stress related to either the biosynthetic context of volatiles, or the ecophysiology and environmental interactions of species via these compounds. In addition, we surveyed publications on practical questions, such as the optimization of cultivation techniques of essential oil bearing plants. Emphasis was placed on theories explaining regularities in the detected symptoms of test plants and discrepancies of other results. Carbon allocation from primarily metabolism to secondary one, competition of parallel terpenoid pathways and the surplus of reductive power are the main theories that are discussed around. During evaluation, the main question was: which principles have already been justified in the biosynthesis/accumulation/emission of plant volatiles due to drought stress? What are the strengths and limitations of the theories? In discussing results from different scientific fields, the intention is to reveal logical connections that are yet to be addressed in the future co-operative multidisciplinary research. The simple question—whether drought stress increases the biosynthesis/accumulation/emission of plant volatiles—is not adequate any more. According to current scientific knowledge, the fine-tuning of all related variables is the challenge of next generation studies, especially for MAP species.

在这篇综述中，我们试图强调与干旱胁迫有关的植物挥发物和精油研究的问题。我们的文献搜索包括所有有关干旱胁迫的出版物，这些出版物与挥发物的生物合成环境或物种通过这些化合物的生态生理和环境相互作用有关。此外，我们调查了有关实际问题的出版物，例如优化精油植物的栽培技术。重点放在解释试验植物检测到的症状规律性和其他结果差异的理论上。从主要的新陈代谢到次要的碳分配，平行的萜类化合物途径的竞争和还原能力的过剩是讨论的主要理论。在评估期间，主要问题是：在干旱胁迫下植物挥发物的生物合成/积累/排放中，哪些原理已经被证明是正确的？这些理论的优点和局限性是什么？在讨论来自不同科学领域的结果时，其目的是揭示在未来的合作式多学科研究中尚待解决的逻辑联系。一个简单的问题-干旱胁迫是否会增加植物挥发物的生物合成/积累/排放量，已经不足够了。根据当前的科学知识，对所有相关变量的微调是下一代研究的挑战，特别是对于MAP物种而言。