Arpita Das

Stevia: A Comprehensive Review on Ethnopharmacological Properties and In Vitro Regeneration

The present review illustrates the pharmacological properties and production of planting materials through in vitro organogenesis of Steviarebaudiana (Bertoni). The plant is native to Paraguay; however, the main producers of stevia are Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Brazil, Malaysia and India. This plant is recorded as having a non-caloric natural sugar, alternative to artificially produced sugar substitutes and hence traditionally has been used to sweeten beverages. This article enumerates an overview on pharmacological and micropropagation aspects which are of use to researchers for further exploration for the indispensable improvement of this potential herb with medicinal importance.

Geographical Distribution, Botanical Description and Self-Incompatibility Mechanism of Genus Stevia

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, popularly known as ‘candy leaf’, is a sweet native herb of Paraguay. It became economically important for its significant contribution to the sugar and beverage industry throughout the world. This plant has been known to contain a calorie-free natural sugar in its leaves, which is an alternative to other artificially produced sugar substitutes. Stevia is conventionally propagated through seed and cutting, owing to its self-incompatibility, insufficient pollinator activity, and poor seed set, which results in the origination of heterozygous plants with varying concentration of glucosides in leaves, with low multiplication rate. This article compiles the literatures and depicts an overview on the geographical distribution, morphological, reproductive and cytological features, along with incompatibility mechanism of Stevia that would assist researchers to explore further and genetically refine this potential herb with immense medicinal importance.

Preharvest Biofortification of Horticultural Crops

Micronutrient malnutrition or hidden hunger is an alarming public health issue in developing countries, affects more than half of the world’s population, and causes enormous loss in quality and quantity of mankind. Among the malnourished population, vitamin A, iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium deficiency are predominant. Modern plant breeding has been focused primarily toward achieving high agronomic yields rather than nutritional quality, and conventional efforts like supplementation, diet diversification, and industrial fortification cannot mitigate the situation. Biofortification is a practice of nutrient fortification in food plants involving modern breeding, transgenic approaches, improved agronomy, and microbiological interventions toward changing genetic architecture, improving micronutrient uptake, and proper distribution in edible tissues to safe levels, reduction in antinutrients in food staples for promoting bioavailability of nutrients thereby becoming a sustainable and long-term strategy to address negative impacts of vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. Considering the nutritional impact of horticultural crops, biofortification program have been carried out in potato, cassava, sweet potato, beans, cow pea, bananas through the joint effort of national and international organizations. Several conventional and transgenic varieties have been released and disseminated to the farming communities, and additional varieties are in the pipeline. However, the effectiveness of the biofortification program essentially relies on the farmers’ and consumers’ acceptance and future policy interventions. Therefore, strategic research and appropriate policy can lead to biofortification’s grand success in the near future.

Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Agriculture

Worldwide the increasing use of inorganic nitrogenous fertilizer becomes a threat to the environment and consequently to the mankind. It is high time to think about the alternate nitrogenous source for assuring sustainable agriculture. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), involving beneficial microorganism, is a process of converting the free atmospheric nitrogen into plant available form. This biological process harmonizes the ecosystem and offers an economic and environment-friendly approach for reducing the external inputs and improving internal sources. In nature a symbiotic relationship exists between most of the agriculturally important leguminous plants and beneficial microorganism, where bacteria can fix atmospheric free N2 and provide it to the plant in available form in exchange of nutrition and shelter. These rhizobia (bacteria) dwell in the nodule present in the roots of leguminous plants. This type of symbiosis also exists between free-living microorganisms, viz., Azolla and Anabaena, and with rice plants in anaerobic condition. Therefore, BNF is considered as an important biological process for harnessing soil health as well as for assuring economic, environmental, and agronomic benefit. However, the necessity of inclusion of leguminous crop in the cropping system due to BNF concern is not getting popularize among the farming community particularly to the marginal and low-income group farmer due to lack of availability of specific rhizobia strain for specific crop, as well as socioecomic constraints. The present book chapter is focusing on the importance of BNF in agricultural system and the effectiveness of various legume species and their beneficial microsymbiont. The genetics, biochemistry behind the BNF, and the probable strategy for improving the N2 fixation process are also getting concern for understanding these important biological phenomena.

Evaluation of cultivars of strawberry, a temperate fruit for its adaptability as well as productivity in sub-tropical agro-climatic condition of Supaul district in Bihar.

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE ABSTRACT : The findings of a field trial conducted in 2012-13 and 2013-14 to assess different cultivars of strawberry in Supaul district of Bihar revealed that short day cultivars were more tolerant to insect pests than day neutral cultivars, particularly in later stage of fruit development leading to record higher yield. It was also revealed that a suitable micro-climate was required for optimum plant growth, higher crop yield and the best quality fruits. Festival was found to be the best performing variety in respect of weight per fruit, yield and marketable fruit quality having maximum growth, plant height (21.34cm), flowering duration (60.09 days), fruiting duration (55.62 days) and yield (15.26 tons/ha).

Response of bio-regulators on air layering in litchi cv. PURBI

IBA 5000 ppm produced maximum rooted layer (90.00%) in litchi cv. PURBI. IBA also proved better in producing more number of roots per layer (44.87), root length (4.67) and number of new leaves per layer (7.44). The roots were also thinner in IBA treated marcots (0.57 mm).