Analysis and Extraction of Non-Structural Carbohydrates in Plants: A Comprehensive Review

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are central to plant growth, survival, and the ability to respond to environmental stresses. Despite being classically considered a passive response to imbalances in carbon, emerging evidence suggests that the accumulation of NSC may be regulated actively, thereby implying a trade-off between growth and storage. NSC pools include starch and soluble sugars and have many functions other than storage, such as osmotic regulation, defense, and maintenance of integrity in the long-distance transport system. Knowledge of NSC dynamics has become increasingly important with global environmental changes, such as drought, that are predicted to worsen under future climate change scenarios. However, the regulation of NSC and its consequences are complex and still highly debated. We synthesize insights across several studies to explore NSC dynamics in plants using ecological observations, physiological experiments, and emerging conceptual models. We synthesize findings from multiple research approaches and present them in order to find the complex patterns of NSC regulation and their ecological implications. We further discuss approaches to rapid NSC extraction and quantification to contribute to up-to-date, comprehensive analytical methods to study NSC.