A review of Ferula species: Biochemical characteristics, pharmaceutical and industrial applications, and suggestions for biotechnologists

•Ferula is a genus rich in coumarins, particularly sesquiterpene coumarins.•Many Ferula species exude a gum resin, which is an invaluable medicinal drug.•Ferula species have a lot of potential for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.•Terpenoid compounds are the main constituents of Ferula secondary metabolites.•Co-cultivations of Ferula hairy roots and endophytes for enhancing secondary metabolites. Ferula is a genus of perennial herbs belonging to the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family. It has 180–185 species. This genus is applied for the remedy of diverse organ disorders in folk medicine. The presence of gum-resins, sesquiterpenes, and sesquiterpene coumarins mostly characterize the genus Ferula. Ferula species have promising bioactive compounds such as auraptene, umbelliprenin, galbanic acid, daucane esters, ferutinin, ferulenol, ferprenin, sinkiangenorin C and E, farnesiferols A and B. Hence, Ferula species can be applied as valuable sources in developing drugs, especially chemopreventive agents. Also, the bioactive constituents of Ferula species with antimicrobial and insecticidal effects can be applied in developing green pesticide. The morphophysiological dormancy is common in the Ferula species that cold stratification could break their dormancy. Some species of Ferula are vulnerable and endangered and to combat the threat of their extinction, vitrification-mediated new cryopreservation techniques for embryos are highly recommended. Terpenoid compounds are the main constituents of Ferula secondary metabolites (SMs). Genes involved in terpene biosynthesis of F. gummosa and F. assa-foetida were identified using study on the transcript profile integrated with metabolite analysis. These datasets are invaluable resources for metabolic engineering of terpene biosynthesis pathways in Ferula species. Several simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs linked with unigenes putatively encoding terpene biosynthesis enzymes have been identified in F. gummosa, which are likely valuable genetic resource for future researches of Ferula species. The roots of Ferula species are more active compared with other organs in terms of biosynthesis of terpenes and also the root tissues of Ferula species are more suitable host for endophytes compared with leaf and stem tissues. Hence, the production of SMs using co-cultivations of hairy roots of Ferula species and endophytic microorganisms are proposed as a promising approach for enhancing SMs in Ferula plants.