Bioscience Evidence 2026, Vol.16, No.4, 304-315 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 305 differences among D. officinale medicinal materials (Li et al., 2025b). With the development of metabolomics and multi-component analysis technologies, increasing evidence indicates that quality evaluation of D. officinale should move from single-component assessment toward a multidimensional quality evaluation system to better reflect medicinal authenticity and quality stability (Hou et al., 2025). As a typical epiphytic plant, D. officinale naturally depends on relatively stable light conditions, temperature, humidity, and root-zone environments. Therefore, environmental changes during artificial cultivation directly affect plant growth, photosynthetic efficiency, biomass accumulation, and active compound production. Light intensity and light quality regulate biomass formation and the accumulation of functional compounds such as polysaccharides and flavonoids, while temperature, humidity, substrate conditions, and nutrient supply jointly influence plant growth and medicinal quality (Zhang et al., 2024). Variations in ecological factors under different cultivation systems can also lead to differences in quality, as combinations of environmental conditions affect the levels of major compounds, including polysaccharides, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Improvements in substrate management, plant–microbe interactions, and intelligent environmental control technologies provide new opportunities for optimizing D. officinale production (Liu et al., 2025). Previous studies have generated extensive knowledge on the chemical composition, pharmacological activities, and cultivation techniques of D. officinale. However, how different environmental factors interactively regulate plant growth and quality formation, and how environmental management can be converted into stable and high-quality production systems, still require further systematic evaluation. This review focuses on the growth and quality formation processes of D. officinale and summarizes the major environmental factors affecting production performance, including light, temperature and humidity, cultivation substrates, water and fertilizer management, and biological interactions. Typical production cases are also discussed to evaluate the effects of environmental regulation on yield and quality formation. Furthermore, future directions involving standardized environmental control, improved quality evaluation systems, and intelligent cultivation technologies are proposed. This review aims to provide theoretical support and practical references for high-quality and sustainable production of D. officinale. 2 Growth and Quality Indicators of Dendrobium officinale 2.1 Evaluation of growth characteristics Stem length, stem diameter, internode length, and single-stem weight not only determine the appearance quality of medicinal materials but also directly affect yield per unit area and commercial value. The growth performance of D. officinale is jointly influenced by genetic characteristics, cultivation environment, and nutrient management. Under different environmental conditions, plants show clear differences in stem elongation and stem structure development. Du et al. (2023) found that calcium nitrate application promoted stem elongation and improved the growth performance of young D. officinale stems. Improved calcium and nitrogen availability enhanced physiological processes related to plant growth, promoted cell elongation and tissue development, and consequently increased stem length and structural strength. Therefore, appropriate nutrient management can improve the formation quality of medicinal stems by optimizing plant growth status. In natural habitats, D. officinale usually forms symbiotic relationships with various microorganisms, among which mycorrhizal fungi play important roles in nutrient acquisition and seedling establishment. Wu et al. (2025) screened several core mycorrhizal fungal strains with growth-promoting effects and evaluated their influence onD. officinale seedling growth. Different Tulasnella strains showed different effects on plant development. Some strains significantly increased plant height and stem diameter, whereas others showed stronger effects on tiller production, new leaf formation, and root development. These results indicate that the growth of D. officinale is not controlled by a single environmental factor but results from the combined effects of nutrient conditions, biological interactions, and cultivation environments. In practical production, selecting suitable microbial combinations according to specific seedling growth targets may become an effective approach for improving seedling quality.
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