I. Sriram Sandeep

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of some important betel vine landraces

Abstract The essential oil composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of eight important betel vine landraces, such as Balia, Chandrakala, Dandabalunga, Desibangla, Godibangla, Karpada local, Maghai and Nahua were evaluated in this research. GC and GC-MS analysis of the essential oil resulted in identification of 50 compounds representing 95.97% of the oil. Major compounds were eugenol, terpinolene, terpinene, cadinene, caryophyllene, 3-carene, etc. The plant essential oil was also subjected to screening for the evaluation of their antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay. The highest antioxidant activity was shown by Balia landraces, whereas the lowest activity by Godibangla landraces. Essential oil showed a great variety of compounds in their chemical composition and antioxidant activity. This might be due to the affect of different environmental factors and soil nutrients of betel vine cultivating zones. The GC-MS chromatogram with antioxidant activity of the above betel vine landraces would not only help to select the elite chemotypes, but also to enhance their future industrial applications.

Characterization of Kewda volatile components by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract Kewda (Pandanus fascicularis Lam.) is a well known medicinal and aromatic plant. The paper aims to precisely characterize volatile constituents present in Kewda flower oil using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS). A total of 159 components were identified due to enhanced chromatographic separation and mass spectral deconvolution of GCxGC-TOFMS. On the basis of its chemical structure, the identified compounds were grouped into hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, ketones, esters, nitrogen compounds, aldehydes, acids, lactones, halides and sulfur containing compounds. Ethers were the major components. The predominant compounds identified by GCxGC-TOFMS were kewda ether, ortho-cymene and terpinen-4-ol. A database containing retention indices of compounds was created for the bi-dimensional column, thus proving to be a remarkable step for analysis of constituents using a GCxGC system. GCxGC-TOFMS separated a number of co-eluting components which were unresolved on a single GC column.

Variation in Volatile Constituents and Eugenol Content of Five Important Betelvine (Piper betle L.) Landraces Exported from Eastern India

Abstract Piper betle L. commonly known as betel vine has been consumed as mouth freshener and traditionally used for medicinal purposes in many countries around the world. The volatile constituents of Piper betle landraces from eastern India were analysed through GC FID and GC-MS analysis. Thirty eight compounds were identified accounting to a total of 98.96% in Paradeep, 98.07% in Birikuli, 95.46% in Matiali, 99.94% in Sanchi and 95.51% in Kali Bangla respectively. Isoeugenol was found to be the major constituent in Paradeep (34.56%), Matiali (48.2%) and in Sanchi (59.2%) where as in Birikuli, trans-isoeugenol (28.45%) and in Kali Bangla, acetyl eugenol (54.76%) were the major constituent. β-ocemene was the unique molecule present in Paradeep where as Birikuli was marked by the presence of eugenol, γ-cadinene , cubebene and β-caryophyllene. Isoeugenol acetate, α-phellandrene and methyl eugenol were only present in Matiali. Sanchi can be distinguished from other landraces by the presence of β-elemene. B-cardinene, chavicol and chavicolacetate were unique to Kalibangla. The volatile constituents can be used for authentic identification of landraces and also enhance their export potential by means of important phytoconstituents and bioactivity studies.

Chemometric Profile of Curcuma longa L. Towards Standardization of Factors for High Essential Oil Yield and Quality

The quality of an herbal drug is indomitable by its important secondary metabolites. The secondary metabolites present in turmeric plant vary in quantity and phyto-constituent proportion at different growing locations. In spite of ever increasing demand of turmeric essential oil it is still not clear how the soil nutrients and environmental factors influence the quality of turmeric essential oil. The present work was conducted by cultivating a high yielding turmeric cultivar i.e., Roma at 9 different agroclimatic zones to analyse the effect of soil nutrients and environmental factors on its essential oil production and quality. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis showed wide variation in quality of leaf and rhizome essential oil across all the studied zones. Leaf and rhizome essential oil yield at different experimental zones varied from 0.37 to 1 and 0.39 to 0.7%, respectively. In leaf oil alpha phellandrene content varied from 39 to 82.35% and in rhizome oil tumerone it varied from 12.6 to 71%. Phosphorous content was the most sensitive factor for leaf and rhizome essential oil yield. Nitrogen and organic carbon were the key factors for tumerone content. Euclidian distance matrix analysis showed highest distance coefficient between zone 2 and zone 3 for leaf oil (0.92) and zone 7 and zone 9 for rhizome oil (0.91). The result suggests that essential oil yield and quality in turmeric are greatly controlled by environmental factors and soil nutrients. Thus, yield with volatile constituents can be improved through selection of growing location and proper nutrient management.

Phytochemical analysis of flower from Pandanus odorifer (Forssk.) Kuntze for industrial application

Abstract Pandanus odorifer (Forssk.) Kuntze is an economically important aromatic plant. The essential oil from male flowers is widely used in aromatherapy, cosmetics and as food flavouring agent. Phenylethyl methyl ether (PEME), the major constituent of essential oil, gives the chief characteristic fragrance to the oil. In the present study, 180 samples from 12 different regions were collected and hydrodistilled for essential oil isolation. The oil was then subjected to GC and GC-MS analysis to find out the percentage of the constituents. The results revealed PEME as the major constituent ranging from 58.03 to 81.86% and terpinen-4-ol, the second major constituent ranging from 7.81 to 21.46%. Soil nitrogen was found to be the most influential factor for oil yield and PEME content. The flowers containing high essential oil yield and PEME content could be used as elite chemotypes with enough potential for large-scale commercial cultivation to meet the demand of kewda industries.

Differential expression of CURS gene during various growth stages, climatic condition and soil nutrients in turmeric (Curcuma longa): Towards site specific cultivation for high curcumin yield

Curcuma longa L., accumulates substantial amount of curcumin and essential oil. Little is known about the differential expression of curcumin synthase (CURS) gene and consequent curcumin content variations at different agroclimatic zones. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of climate, soil and harvesting phase on expression of CURS gene for curcumin yield in two high yielding turmeric cultivars. Expression of CURS gene at different experimental zones as well as at different harvesting phase was studied through transcriptional analysis by qRT-PCR. Curcumin varied from 1.5 to 5% and 1.4-5% in Surama and Roma respectively. The expression of CURS also varied from 0.402 to 5.584 fold in Surama and 0.856-5.217 fold in Roma. Difference in curcumin content at a particular zone varied among different harvesting period from 3.95 to 4.31% in Surama and 3.57-3.83% in Roma. Expression of CURS gene was also effected by harvesting time of the rhizome which varied from 7.389 to 16.882 fold in Surama and 4.41-8.342 fold in Roma. The CURS gene expression was found regardless of variations in curcumin content at different experimental zones. This may be due to the effects of soil and environmental variables. Expression was positively correlated with curcumin content with different harvesting time at a particular zone. This find indicates effect of soil and environment on molecular and biochemical dynamics of curcumin biosynthesis and could be useful in genetic improvement of turmeric.