Abstract: Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PDEVs) have emerged as an attractive class of naturally occurring nanocarriers that combine the biological functionality of extracellular vesicles with the accessibility, scalability, and chemical diversity of plant sources. These nanoscale lipid-bilayer vesicles contain proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and plant-derived metabolites and can participate in intercellular and potentially cross-kingdom communication. Increasing evidence indicates that PDEVs can function not only as naturally bioactive nanoparticles but also as engineered delivery systems for small-molecule drugs, proteins and nucleic acids. Their membrane composition, intrinsic cellular uptake, gastrointestinal stability and possibility of oral or intranasal administration provide characteristics that are attractive for precision nanomedicine. However, differences in plant source, tissue, cultivation conditions and isolation strategy can substantially influence vesicle composition, yield, purity and biological activity. Recent engineering approaches have therefore focused on controlled drug loading, membrane reassembly, surface ligand functionalization, hybridization with synthetic nanomaterials and process intensification. Preclinical studies have demonstrated applications in cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, neurological disorders, wound repair and other conditions. Nevertheless, clinically relevant development remains constrained by limited standardization, incomplete understanding of biodistribution and pharmacokinetics, scalability, storage stability, critical quality attributes and regulatory classification. This mini-review discusses the transition of PDEVs from naturally occurring plant nanovesicles to engineered precision nanomedicine platforms, emphasizing biogenesis, composition, isolation, characterization, cargo loading, targeting, therapeutic applications, manufacturing and translational requirements.
Keywords: Plant nanovesicles, drug delivery, precision nanomedicine, targeted delivery, nanopharmaceutics, RNA delivery