STUDIES ON NATURAL DIVERSITY AND IN VITRO BEHAVIOR OF RARE INDIAN MEDICINAL HERB 'SAFED MUSLI' (CHLOROPHYTUM BORIVILIANUM)

Abstract

Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. et Fernand. (‘Safed Musli’), belonging to monocotyledonous family Liliaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropical and sub- tropical parts of the world. In India it has been reported growing in parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is an endangered Indian medicinal herb, valued for its tuberous roots reputed to have aphrodisiac properties. The plant is of economic importance in India since its dried roots are currently sold in the market at a price of Rs. 1500/- (US$30) per kilogram. Due to large-scale and indiscriminate collection of wild material and insufficient attempts either to allow its replenishment or its cultivation, C. borivilianum is rapidly disappearing. The natural regeneration of this herb is through tuberous roots that have become scarce in nature. It is therefore necessary to understand genetic structure of its natural populations in view of aiming at conservation and improvement strategies. In present study seven accessions of C. borivilianum were collected from different geographical regions of India were assessed for their natural diversity and in vitro behavior. The accessions exhibited significant variations in selected parameters of leaf growth, stomatal frequency, flowering and yield of root tubers. Accessions PBL-4, PBL-6 and PBL-7 outperformed the growth and yield parameters as compared to others. Higher magnitude of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was recorded for yield per plant and leaf characteristics. More than 92.0% habitability was recorded for all the traits studied except stomatal frequency and number of flower, the other traits have positive correlation with yield per plant. In vitro response of these accessions also varied significantly, best shoot multiplication rate was obtained in PBL-4 and PBL-3 followed by PBL-2 and PBL-5. The per cent rooting in vitro derived shoots was maximum in PBL-4 and minimum in PBL-1. The present study will be helpful in selection of accessions/s for both ex situ and in situ conservation strategies and also for mass propagation of this medicinal herb.