Abstract
Stress factors provoke enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. Though ROS and their reaction products may act as second messengers in regulating complex downstream effects on primary and secondary metabolism, reaction of unmetabolized ROS with lipids can cause irreversible damage to their structure, initiate oxidation and subsequently halt plant cellular metabolism. The oxidation of lipids has been credibly evidenced as a significant oxidative stress biomarker in plants. Extensive reports are available in the literature on the abiotic stress‐mediated modulation of lipid oxidation in plants; however, there exists a wide information gap on the critical cross‐talk on these aspects. The present chapter (a) critically examines various physiological/biochemical aspects of oxidative damage to lipids (mainly membrane lipids) in abiotic‐stressed plants; (b) summarizes the principles, advantages and limitations of current technologies used to evaluate the extent of lipid oxidation; (c) synthesizes major outcomes of the studies on lipid oxidation in abiotic‐stressed plants; and finally, (d) considers a brief cross‐talk on ROS‐accrued lipid oxidation.