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B. Varalakshmi ¹, Y. Suchitha ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru 560 089, IN

Abstract

Ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.], is one of the most important vegetables grown throughout the year in all the tropical regions especially in Asian and African countries. It is rich in vitamin A, C and iron. A variety of sex forms, with different genetic mechanisms, were reported in cucurbitaceous crops.

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B. Varalakshmi ¹, M. Pitchaimuthu ¹, E. Sreenivas Rao ¹, K. S. Sanna Manjunath ¹, S. H. Swathi ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hesaraghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru-560 089, IN

Abstract

The present investigation was made to determine variability, heritability, genetic advance and correlation of fruit yield with 10 yield-contributing traits in ridge gourd. A wide variability was observed for days taken to first female flower appearance, fruit length, fruit number/plant, fruit weight and fruit yield/ha. Phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits studied, indicating environmental influence on the expression of these traits. However, high heritability (broad-sense), along with high genetic advance, was recorded in node number at which first female-flower appeared, number of branches, fruit length, number of fruits/plant and fruit weight, indicating presence of additive gene effects. Fruit yield/ha was significantly and positively associated with peduncle length, fruit length, number of fruits/plant (at the phenotypic level), fruit weight and fruit yield/plant. Fruit weight had the highest direct effect (0.847) on fruit yield/ha, followed by fruit yield/plant (0.793), fruit number (0.344), peduncle length (0.237) and number of branches (0.216). Therefore, for yield improvement in ridge gourd, emphasis may be laid on indirect selection using fruit parameters like fruit weight, number of fruits/plant and fruit yield/plant.

Keywords

Ridge Gourd, Luffa acutangula (Roxb) L., Genetic Variability, Heritability, Correlation Path Analysis.

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B. Varalakshmi ¹, V. Kesava Rao ², D. V. Sudhakar Rao ³, R. B. Tiwari ³, M. Prabhakar ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Vegetable Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore – 560 089, IN
2 Division of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, IIHR, Bangalore, IN
3 Division of Post Harvest Technology, IIHR, Bangalore, IN

Abstract

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is one of the important leafy vegetables having a pleasant aroma. Very little research work has been done on improvement of leafy coriander and only a few local varieties, low-yielding and with low aroma, are available in the market. Research work at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research has resulted in development of a leafy coriander variety, Arka Isha, with a high yield potential and good aroma. It is a multicut variety where the plants are bushy, leaves are broad and leaf lobes are short, and the variety is late flowering. Yield is 3.74t ha^-1 by pulling at 40 days after sowing, and 11.98t ha^-1 by cutting. Leaves have 167.05mg 100g^-1 of Vitamin C, with good aroma and keeping-quality.

Keywords

Leafy Coriander, Variety, Yield.

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H. M. Santhosha ¹, B. Varalakshmi ², N. C. Narase Gowda ¹

Affiliations
1 University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, IN
2 Division of Vegetable Crops, IIHR, Hessaraghatta, Bangalore-89, IN

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study genetic divergence in 51 genotypes of cauliflower. Data was recorded for 16 quantitative characters. The genotypes were grouped into 14 clusters. A majority of the genotypes grouped together in Cluster 14 (with 14 genotypes), followed by Cluster 12 (with 8 genotypes). Intra-cluster value was maximum in Cluster 8 and minimum in Cluster 2. Maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between Clusters 8 and 10, followed by that between Clusters 10 and 13 and between Clusters 8 and 12. Hence, genotypes IIHR-323-13, IIHR-214- 5 and IIHR-277-14 of Cluster 8, and genotypes IIHR-263 and IIHR-272 of cluster 10 present the best choice for hybridization. Highest mean value for plant weight, leaf number, curd diameter, curd size, net curd-weight , net plot yield, yield per hectare and marketable curd-weight was also observed in Cluster 10, which indicates that genotypes included in this cluster are potential parents for hybridization programmes aimed at increasing cauliflower yields.

Keywords

Cauliflower, Genetic Diversity, Hybridization.

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B. Varalakshmi ¹, V. Kesava Rao ², G. Naik ³

Affiliations
1 Division of Vegetable Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore – 560 089, IN
2 Division of Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, IIHR, Bangalore, IN
3 CHES, Bhubaneswar, IN

Abstract

Amaranth improvement in India hither to was concerned with development of high-yielding varieties, and hardly any research efforts have been made for its nutritional improvement. Keeping this in view, at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research two high-yielding amaranth varieties, Arka Samraksha and Arka Varna with high antioxidant activity, low amounts of nitrates and oxalates were developed using modified bulk method of selection from segregating population of the crosses IIHR-4 x IIHR-70 and IIHR-7 x IIHR-30 . Arka Samraksha is a high-yielding (10.9 t/ha in 30-35 days), pulling-type variety with green leaves and stem, antioxidant activity of 499mg (AEAC units) and minimum nitrate content of 27.3 mg and 1.34 g oxalates per 100 g fresh leaf weight. Arka Varna also a pulling type, high-yielding variety (10.6 t/ha in 30-35 days) with green leaves and a pink stem, high antioxidant activity of 417 mg (AEAC units), low nitrate content of 37.6 mg and 1.42 g oxalates per 100 g fresh leaf weight.

Keywords

Amaranth, Antioxidant Activity, Nitrates, Oxalate.

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B. Varalakshmi ¹, Devaraju ²

Affiliations
1 Division of Vegetable Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore-560 089, IN
2 Department of Horticulture, Chamarajanagar, Karnataka, IN

Abstract

Evaluation of eleven germplasm lines of the Indian spinach (basella) revealed maximum leaf weight/plant in IIHR-1 (160.5g), followed by IIHR-18 (111.6g) and IIHR-3 (98.3g). Results of genetic studies revealed that phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits studied, indicating environmental influence on expression of these characters. Moderate heritability along with high genetic advance was recorded for leaf weight and total plant weight, indicating the presence of additive gene effects. Hence, selection can be employed for improvement of these characters in basella. Higher plant weight was found to be significantly and positively associated with branch number, leaf number, leaf weight and stem weight. Leaf number had the maximum direct positive effect on total plant weight, followed by leaf length. Indirect effects of other characters through these characters were also seen to be positive. Thus, for yield improvement in basella, emphasis may be laid on indirect selection through leaf characters like leaf number, leaf length and leaf weight.

Keywords

Basella alba, Indian Spinach, Genetic Variability, Heritability, Path Analysis.

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T. Karpagam ¹, Jannathul Firdous ², Revathy ¹, Shanmuga Priya ¹, B. Varalakshmi ¹, S. Gomathi ¹, S. Geetha ³, Noorzaid Muhamad ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Biochemistry, Shrimati Indira Gandhi College, Tiruchirappalli, IN
2 Cluster for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine (CIPMM), Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak, No.3, Jalan Greentown, 30450, Ipoh, Perak, MY
3 Biochemistry Department, School of Life Sciences, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Pallavaram, Chennai, IN

Abstract

In the present study, anticancer and cytotoxicity of Aloe vera ethanolic leaves extract was evaluated as the leaves of A.vera are reported to have great medicinal value with potential therapeutic applications. The anticancer activities of the ethanolic leaves extract of A.vera were investigated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay on three human cancer cell lines HepG2 (liver cancer), HeLa (human cervical carcinoma cell line) and A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line).In anticancer studies, A.vera ethanolic leaves extract showed potent proliferation inhibitory activity against HepG2, HeLa and A549 cell lines. The results have shown that the A.vera ethanolic leaves extract contain some active ingredients with the potential of being anticancer agents. A.vera ethanolic leaves extract has the potential to fight against cancer cells. Further work should be carried out on the characterization of specific anticancer components of A.vera.

Keywords

Aloe vera, Cancer cell lines, Lipid peroxidation, MTT assay, Phytochemicals.

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