Traditional processing associated changes in chemical parameters of wild Yam (Dioscorea) tubers from Koraput, Odisha, India

268-276Wild yam tuber considered as famine food and played a prime role in the food habit of tribal people of Koraput district of Odisha, India. The tribal people employed a range of processing of these yams such as boiled, soaked and sun dried for detoxification of antinutrients in accordance with their needs. There is a scarcity of documented information on their nutrient composition/retention by traditional processing methods. The current study assessed the traditional processing (boiled, soaked and sun dried) associated changes in chemical composition and physico-functional characteristics of 6 wild and 1 cultivated Dioscorea tubers collected from Koraput, India. Different processing led to a significant reduction of proximate compositions and nutrient content compared to the raw tuber, whereas physico-functional parameters increased significantly (pDioscorea tubers as safe food sources for mass consumption and should be used in boiling form, as it retains higher nutrients coupled with significant removal of antinutritional compositions

Traditional processing associated changes in chemical parameters of wild Yam (Dioscorea) tubers from Koraput, Odisha, India

Wild yam tuber considered as famine food and played a prime role in the food habit of tribal people of Koraput district of Odisha, India. The tribal people employed a range of processing of these yams such as boiled, soaked and sun dried for detoxification of antinutrients in accordance with their needs. There is a scarcity of documented information on their nutrient composition/retention by traditional processing methods. The current study assessed the traditional processing (boiled, soaked and sun dried) associated changes in chemical composition and physico-functional characteristics of 6 wild and 1 cultivated Dioscorea tubers collected from Koraput, India. Different processing led to a significant reduction of proximate compositions and nutrient content compared to the raw tuber, whereas physico-functional parameters increased significantly (p<0.05). In addition, there was significant decrease in the antinutrients, minerals and vitamin content by different processing in studied yam species. Results suggested that wild Dioscorea tubers as safe food sources for mass consumption and should be used in boiling form, as it retains higher nutrients coupled with significant removal of antinutritional compositions

Physiological introspection of leaf photochemical activity and antioxidant metabolism in selected indigenous finger millet genotypes in relation to drought stress

Drought stress often impairs growth and yield of finger millets worldwide. The present study investigated the drought stress responses in four indigenous finger millets (Gangabali, Dengsameli, Kada and Badu) of Koraput compared to one improved variety (Bhairabi) under simulated drought condition at the early growth stage. The physiological and biochemical responses of indigenous finger millets were assessed through chlorophyll fluorescence technique, photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants, proline, protein and lipid peroxidation. The results showed that drought treatment significantly declined the photosystem (PS) II activity by declining the maximal fluorescence, maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, yield of PSII photochemistry, electron transport rate and photochemical quenching with concomitant increase in minimum fluorescence and non-photosynthetic quenching compared to the respective control plants. Further, the present finding indicates that finger millet leaves responded to PEG-induced drought stress by significantly enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity. The proline accumulation was increased with increasing concentration of drought, which suggests that plants’ ability to resist the effect of drought. Based on the phenotypic response under drought stress, indigenous finger millet genotypes such as Gangabali and Badu showed superior drought tolerance capacity than the improved genotype (Bhairabi) during seedling stages. Overall, the results suggest that these indigenous finger millet genotypes may be beneficial for rainfed areas affected by drought stresses and can be used for future breeding programs

Nutritional diversity and food potential of indigenous pigmented rice landraces from Koraput regions of Eastern Ghats

Abstract Compressive nutritional, nutraceuticals and mineral profiling was carried out in eight diverse pigmented rice landraces originated from Koraput and compared them with improved variety (IR 64). The proximate compositions such as moisture content varied from 8.23 to 11.65 g 100 g−1, ash 0.68–1.46 g 100 g−1, fat 1.07–2.23 g 100 g−1, protein 7.00–9.63 g 100 g−1, carbohydrate 76.37–80.66 g 100 g−1, fiber 0.11–1.69 g 100 g−1 and energy 346.3–362.11 kcal 100 g−1 in the studied rice lines. These landraces are rich in phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant concentrations and varied from 3.0 to 9.0 mg g−1, 0.150 to 0.950 mg 100 g−1, and 10.8 to 40.20%, respectively. Principal component analysis explained 47.2% of the overall variation and reflected huge difference between explored genotypes. The heritability and genetic advance varied from 30.22–99.90% and 2.5–111.5%, respectively. In compared to improved IR 64 variety, rich in energy content was recorded in Paradhan, Bhatamali and Haladiganthi indicated its nutritional superiority. Further, exceptional rich in phenol, flavonoid, vitamin C, vitamin E and antioxidant capacity was recorded in Kalachudi, Bedagurumukhi and Kandulakanthi, which may create opportunities for its large-scale commercialization and cultivation. These nutrition rich landraces also hold great potential for future crop improvement programs aimed at enhancing quality

Genotypic diversity and abiotic stress response profiling of short-grain aromatic landraces of rice (Oryza sativa L. Indica)

This study evaluated the physiological responses and genetic diversity of selected short-grain aromatic rice landraces of Northern Eastern Ghats of India to multiple abiotic stresses. Results revealed that drought, salt and flooding stress remarkably declined plant biomass, relative growth index (RGI), relative water content (RWC), leaf photosynthesis, PSII activity, SPAD relative index, and elevated effect was found in susceptible IR64 (susceptible check) variety. We employed molecular marker analysis to characterize 21 rice genotypes using 32 SSR primers related to drought, flooding and salinity tolerance QTLs. Our analysis suggests significantly high polymorphism (93.12%) in 96 loci. The mean value of polymorphism information content (PIC), marker index (MI) and resolving power (RP) and heterozygosity index (HI) were 0.326, 1.037, 1.558 and 0.420 respectively. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.158 to 0.846 with a mean genetic dissimilarity of 0.647. According to neighbor-joining method of clustering, all genotypes were grouped into two major and five sub-clusters which is concurrent with a very broad genetic base (K = 5) obtained with STRUCTURE analysis. Taken together, six aromatic genotypes Basubhoga, Dudhamani, Kalajeera, Laktimachi, Kuyerkuling and Tulasi are genetically very close to drought-tolerant (N22) and flooding tolerant (FR13A) cultivar whereas, salt-tolerant (Pokkali) very close to Sapuri and Muktabali. The degree of genetic variants obtained from this profiling could be useful for landrace conservation, selection and global implications for multiple abiotic stress tolerance

Identification and expression analysis of methyl jasmonate responsive ESTs in paclitaxel producing Taxus cuspidata suspension culture cells

Background Taxol(R)(paclitaxel) promotes microtubule assembly and stabilization and therefore is a potent chemotherapeutic agent against wide range of cancers. Methyl jasmonate (MJ) elicited Taxus cell cultures provide a sustainable option to meet the growing market demand for paclitaxel. Despite its increasing pharmaceutical importance, the molecular genetics of paclitaxel biosynthesis is not fully elucidated. This study focuses on identification of MJ responsive transcripts in cultured Taxus cells using PCR-based suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) to identify genes involved in global pathway control. Results Six separate SSH cDNA libraries of paclitaxel-accumulating Taxus cuspidata P991 cell lines were constructed at three different post-elicitation time points (6h, 18h and 5 day) to identify genes that are either induced or suppressed in response to MJ. Sequencing of 576 differentially screened clones from the SSH libraries resulted in 331 unigenes. Functional annotation and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of up-regulated EST libraries showed enrichment of several known paclitaxel biosynthetic genes and novel transcripts that may be involved in MJ-signaling, taxane transport, or taxane degradation. Macroarray analysis of these identified genes unravelled global regulatory expression of these transcripts. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of a set of 12 candidate genes further confirmed the MJ-induced gene expression in a high paclitaxel accumulating Taxus cuspidata P93AF cell line. Conclusions This study elucidates the global temporal expression kinetics of MJ responsive genes in Taxus suspension cell culture. Functional characterization of the novel genes identified in this study will further enhance the understanding of paclitaxel biosynthesis, taxane transport and degradation