Turmeric Plants Research Articles

Evaluation of secondary metabolites of Hirsutella citriformis against Udaspes folus infecting Curcuma longa L.

ObjectiveA field experiment was conducted in a turmeric field during 2010–11 to evaluate the efficiency of suitable biopesticides for the management of Udaspes folus larvae on turmeric leaves. MethodsThe treatments contained 11 treatments with three replicates covering isolated and indigenous fungal strains along with neem based formulations. Moreover, a commercial biopesticide and a chemical pesticide were also tested to find out the efficiency of the product. ResultsPooled data on mortality of the larvae revealed significant superiority of Hirsutella citriformis and Metarhizium anisopliae. Among the four larval stages tested the second, third and fourth instar larvae showed higher percent of mortality rate than the fifth instar. Between the two isolates of H. citriformis, the isolate HC 28 revealed significant mortality of U. folus in field conditions. Similarly, the physiological and biochemical parameters were also increased in plants greatly after imposing various treatments. GC–MS analysis of H. citriformis showed the presence of Phthalic acid to be the major constituent. Natural enemies were recorded in all the treatment plots. ConclusionThe present study provides foremost solid proof for the use of entomopathogenic fungi H. citriformis as an important component for integrated pest management strategy against U. folus infecting leaves of turmeric plants.

Rhizobacterial-mediated induction of defense enzymes to enhance the resistance of turmeric (Curcuma longa L) to Pythium aphanidermatum causing rhizome rot

Rhizobacteria isolated from the rhizosphere soil were evaluated for their ability to control rhizome rot in turmeric (Curcuma longa L). These isolates were characterised as Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis. Under in vitro condition, two isolates, namely P. chlororaphis (PcPA23) and B. subtilis (BsCBE4), showed maximum inhibition of mycelial growth of Pythium aphanidermatum, were found effective in reducing rhizome rot of turmeric both under greenhouse and field conditions and increased the plant growth and rhizome yield. Both the isolates were further tested for its ability to induce production of defense-related enzymes and chemicals in plants. Increased activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase were observed in PcPA23 and BsCBE4 pre-treated turmeric plants challenged with P. aphanidermatum. Moreover, higher accumulation of phenolics was noticed in plants pre-treated with PcPA23 and BsCBE4 challenged with P. aphanidermatum. Thus, the present study shows that in addition to direct antagonism and plant growth promotion, induction of defense-related enzymes involved in the phenyl propanoid pathway collectively contributed to enhance resistance against invasion of Pythium in turmeric.

EFFECT OF VARIOUS BIOPESTICIDES AND BIOCIDES ON THE LEAF PEST, UDASPES FOLUS OF TURMERIC PLANTS

ABSTRACT Entomopathogenic fungi have great potential in pest management due to their mode of action, specificity and cost efficiency. The present study was done to evaluate the effect of various fungal agents like Trichoderma viride, Beauvaria bassiana (Balsamo) Metrarhizium anisophilae (Metsch), Hirsutella citriformis(Speare), Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) Samson and neem based pesticides (Azadiractin) on the leaf roller pest, Udaspes folus which affects the growth of turmeric plants to a great extent. The results were compared with the standard chemical pesticide action. The effect of various pesticide applications on turmeric plant and rhizome was also evaluated as the rhizome product is directly consumed by all. The various biochemical parameters in turmeric leaves were studied in both infected and healthy leaves. Among the tested entomopathogenic fungi, Hirsutella citriformis was found to significantly control U. folus followed by Metrarhizium anisophilae.

Mining and characterization of EST derived microsatellites in Curcuma longa L.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) (Family: Zingiberaceae) is a perennial rhizomatous herbaceous plant often used as a spice since time immemorial. Turmeric plants are also widely known for its medicinal applications. Recently EST-derived SSRs (Simple sequence repeats) are a free by-product of the currently expanding EST (Expressed Sequence Tag) databases. SSRs have been widely applied as molecular markers in genetic studies. Development of high throughput method for detection of SSRs has given a new dimension in their use as molecular markers. A software tool SciRoKo was used to mine class I SSR in Curcuma EST database comprising 12953 sequences. A total of 568 non-redundant SSR loci were detected with an average of one SSR per 14.73 Kb of EST. Furthermore, trinucleotide was found to be the most abundant repeat type among 1-6-nucleotide repeat types. It accounted for 41.19% of the total, followed by the mononucleotide (20.07%) and hexanucleotide repeats (15.14%). Among all the repeat motifs, (A/T)n accounted for the highest proportion followed by (AGG)n. These detected SSRs can be greatly used for designing primers that can be used as markers for constructing saturated genetic maps and conducting comparative genomic studies in different Curcuma species.

沖縄県におけるウコンの植付時期が、出芽、生育および収量に及ぼす影響

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the temperature and planting date (month) on the emergence, growth and yield of turmeric {Curcuma longa L.) plats in Okinawa Prefecture, Southern Japan. Turmeric rhizomes were planted on February 15, March 15, April 15, May 15 and June 15 as treatments for the planting date. Temperature range of 25-35 °C was optimum for the sprouting of turmeric rhizome-buds, and sprouting did not occur below 10 °C or above 40 °C. Seedlings elongated well in the temperature range between 25 and 30 C, but could not survive at above 40 C. The emergence of the turmeric seedlings in the February, March and April plantings started at nearly the same time, and was completed within June. Shoots of turmeric plants differing in the planting month started to wither at the same time in November, and completely withered in January. Shoot dry weight and yield of turmeric plants were significantly higher in the February planting followed by the March and April plantings than in late planting in the glasshouse experiment, whereas in the field experiment the values of these two parameters were significantly higher in the April planting followed by the March and February plantings than in the late planting. The fields of the turmeric plants in the February and March plantings required additional weeding before emergence because winter and spring weeds emerged earlier and grew vigorously. The order of total weed dry weight was as follows: February planting> March planting >April planting >May planting >June planting. The emergence pattern, growth and yield of turmeric plants, and weed growth in the field experiment suggested that turmeric should be planted in April followed by March in Okinawa, Japan.

Secondary Metabolism-Inducing Treatments During in vitro Development of Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) Rhizomes

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) plants that were grown in vitro for 17 or 22 weeks as a fed-batch culture in 2.5 L vessels yielded 39 to 43 g and 62 to 70 g of fresh rhizomes per vessel, respectively (95 % confidence interval). The MS liquid medium was maintained at 6 % sucrose through media addition twice during the experiment. Various methods were employed in attempts to increase secondary metabolism. Antioxidant and total phenolics assays were employed to characterize phytochemical activity. A first experiment exposed four clones to phenylalanine and/or methyl jasmonate (MeJa) from week 12 to 17 in culture. In a second experiment, a clone was given short-term exposure (1.5 weeks) to either proline, a natural proline-rich fish extract, MeJa, or chitosan beginning during the twentieth week of culture. This experiment also included a nitrogen stress treatment (weeks 16–22). The 5-week phenylalanine and MeJa treatments lowered biomass accumulation and antioxidant capacity of the tissue. The magnitude of antioxidant depression was dependent on genotype and, within each genotype, the degree of depression was similar for phenylalanine and MeJa, alone and in combination. In the second experiment, only the low-nitrogen treatment yielded an increase in phenolic content to 4.7 % of dry weight compared to untreated microrhizomes (4.1 % of dry weight). Nitrogen-stressed plants also had less leaf growth, but rhizome mass was unaffected and averaged 63 g FW per vessel. None of the short-term treatments had a significant effect on biomass, antioxidant capacity, or phenolic content. None of the treatments significantly affected radical scavenging, although the low-nitrogen treatment might have improved this activity (p = .1207). Results indicated that plants grown in a high-nitrogen MS media were not responsive to elicitation.

Salicylic acid induced defence responses in Curcuma longa (L.) against Pythium aphanidermatum infection

The soilborne Oomycete, Pythium aphanidermatum is the causal agent of rhizome rot disease, one of the most serious threats to turmeric crops in India. At present, effective fungicides are not available. Here we report the enhanced resistance response induced by salicylic acid (SA) in susceptible turmeric plants. The enzymatic activities of pathogenesis related (PR) proteins in control and SA treated turmeric plants were measured. SA pretreatment elicited marked increases in the activity levels of protease, trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors, soluble and ionically bound peroxidase activity. Such an increase in enzyme activities and protease inhibitors was enhanced and occurred much more rapidly in P. aphanidermatum infected rhizomes than those that were previously treated with SA (0.5 mM) suggesting that increased activities of peroxidases and protease inhibitors may play a role in restricting the development of disease symptoms in the rhizomes infected with P. aphanidermatum as evidenced by reduction in cell death. SA also induced new polypeptides in turmeric rhizomes corresponding to 19.0 and 41.0 kDa. The results demonstrated that SA is an effective resistance activator in turmeric, and a potentially useful agent for the control of rhizome rot disease.

The Biosynthetic Pathway of Curcuminoid in Turmeric (Curcuma longa) as Revealed by13C-Labeled Precursors

In order to investigate the biosynthesis of curcuminoid in rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa), we established an in vitro culture system of turmeric plants for feeding (13)C-labeled precursors. Analyses of labeled desmethoxycurcumin (DMC), an unsymmetrical curcuminoid, by (13)C-NMR, revealed that one molecule of acetic acid or malonic acid and two molecules of phenylalanine or phenylpropanoids, but not tyrosine, were incorporated into DMC. The incorporation efficiencies of the same precursors into DMC and curcumin were similar, and were in the order malonic acid > acetic acid, and cinnamic acid > p-coumaric acid >> ferulic acid. These results suggest the possibility that the pathway to curcuminoids utilized two cinnamoyl CoAs and one malonyl CoA, and that hydroxy- and methoxy-functional groups on the aromatic rings were introduced after the formation of the curcuminoid skeleton.

Induction of plant defence enzymes in turmeric plants by Trichoderma viride

Among the various strains of Trichoderma viride, the tested strain MG 6 was found to be more effective in inhibiting the growth of Pythium aphanidermatum, the casual agent of rhizome rot in turmeric. Various substrates were tested for the in situ multiplication of selected strain (MG 6). Among them farmyard manure (FYM) was found to be most suitable. When the FYM-based biomanure was applied to turmeric plants it induced the activity of various plant defence enzymes such as peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenyl alanine ammonia lyase. The induction of 6 and 4 isoforms of PO, 10 and 9 isoforms of PPO viz., in leaf and rhizome, were observed in plants applied with T. viride (MG 6). The early and increased expression of defence genes can induce systemic resistance in plants against pathogens.

Metabolic Profiling of Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) Plants Derived from in Vitro Micropropagation and Conventional Greenhouse Cultivation

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) was considered only a culinary spice in many parts of the world until the notable anti-inflammation curcuminoids were discovered from this herb. Because it is a sterile triploid and is propagated vegetatively by rhizome division, turmeric is susceptible to pathogens that accumulate and are transmitted from generation to generation, and amplification of particularly useful stocks is a slow process. An in vitro propagation method has been developed to alleviate these problems. Metabolic profiling, using GC-MS and LC-ESI-MS, was used to determine if chemical differences existed between greenhouse-grown and in vitro micropropagation derived plants. The major chemical constituent curcuminoids, a group of diarylheptanoid compounds, as well as major mono- and sesquiterpenoids were identified and quantified. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed chemical differences between lines (T3C turmeric vs Hawaiian red turmeric) and tissues (rhizome, root, leaf, and shoot). However, this analysis indicated that no significant differences existed between growth treatments (conventional greenhouse-grown vs in vitro propagation derived plants).

Boron Deficiency Induced Changes in Translocation of <sup>14</sup>CO<sub>2</sub>-Photosynthate Into Primary Metabolites in Relation to Essential Oil and Curcumin Accumulation in Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Changes in leaf growth, net photosynthetic rate (PN), incorporation pattern of photosynthetically fixed 14CO2 in leaves 1-4 from top, roots, and rhizome, and in essential oil and curcumin contents were studied in turmeric plants grown in nutrient solution at boron (B) concentrations of 0 and 0.5 g m-3. B deficiency resulted in decrease in leaf area, fresh and dry mass, chlorophyll (Chl) content, and PN and total 14CO2 incorporated at all leaf positions, the maximum effect being in young growing leaves. The incorporation of 14CO2 declined with leaf position being maximal in the youngest leaf. B deficiency resulted in reduced accumulation of sugars, amino acids, and organic acids at all leaf positions. Translocation of the metabolites towards rhizome and roots decreased. In rhizome, the amount of amino acids increased but content of organic acids did not show any change, whereas in roots there was decrease in contents of these metabolites as a result of B deficiency. Photoassimilate partitioning to essential oil in leaf and to curcumin in rhizome decreased. Although the curcumin content of rhizome increased due to B deficiency, the overall rhizome yield and curcumin yield decreased. The influence of B deficiency on leaf area, fresh and dry masses, CO2 exchange rate, oil content, and rhizome and curcumin yields can be ascribed to reduced photosynthate formation and translocation.

Biology of rhizome fly,Mimegralla coeruleifronsMacquart (Micropezidae: Diptera) in India, a pest of turmeric and ginger crops

Abstract The observations were made on the life history of rhizome fly, Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart on turmeric and ginger plants. A female laid from 76 to 150 eggs in the soil under laboratory conditions. The incubation period varied from 2 to 5 days. Three larval instars were observed. The durations of first, second and third instars were 4 to 7, 4 to 8 and 3 to 10 days, respectively. The total larval period ranged from 13 to 25 days. The pupal period lasted for 5 to 15 days, adults from 7 to 24 days, and the total life span from 38 to 62 days. The sex ratio was 1: 1 approximately. The stages are described. A parasite, Trichopria sp was recorded from its pupae. The pupal stage appeared to be responsible for carry over of the pest in planting seed rhizomes from season to another. The peak period of infestation in endemic areas was from mid August to mid October.

A Method for Screening High Curcumin-containing Turmeric ( Curcuma longa L.) Cultivars in vitro

Summary Curcumin concentration was determined in the swollen rhizome-like portions at the base of in vitro grown shoots of turmeric plantlets (cvs. Tekurpeta and Duggirala) derived from callus. The same seedlings were grown further in the field, to maturity. A positive correlation of curcumin concentrations in the seedlings and in the mature rhizomes was established. It provides a basis for the selection in the laboratory of turmeric plants high in curcumin. This method may be useful for the inexpensive selection of cultivars from large plant populations.

A New Leaf Spot of Turmeric

Turmeric (Curcuma species) is one of the most important spices of India. A new leaf-spot disease of this crop was observed at Shillong in November, 1978. The pathogen was found to be a hyphomycetous fungus but did not fit in any genus. This paper describes the symptoms, diagnosis, culture and pathogenicity of the fungus. Symptoms: Leaf spots are oval to oblong, 4-9 X 3-5 cm, gray brown on the upper surface with alternate light and dark brown concentric zones on the corresponding lower surface (FIG. 1). The spots often coalesce into irregular patches. Culture and pathogenicity: The fungus was grown on potato-dextrose agar (PDA). Colonies are effuse, white initially, turning gray with age (FIG. 3). Sporulation was rare. A concentrated mycelial suspension was applied to turmeric plants and covered under moisture for 4 da. Typical spots appeared after 12 da.

Effect of a new fluorochrome on pre‐ and post‐UV treatment of Taphrina maculans BUTLER

AbstractTaphrina maculans BUTLER incites leaf spots disease in turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) plants. The pathogen forms two types of colonies namely, salmon‐red and creamy‐white in the artificial medium when isolated from a single infection spot. Both strains resemble yeasts in morphology. The two strains were subjected to UV irradiation. The salmon‐red one showed higher resistance to UV than the white one, presumably due to the presence of a red pigment in the former. When spores of the salmon‐red strain were pre‐treated with a new fluorochrome HOECHST 33258 the survival decreased. Decreased survival of the salmon‐red strain was also observed during post‐treatment which is probably due to the combined effect of UV and dyeThe creamy‐white strain differs from the salmon‐red one in UV sensitivity, and also during combined treatment with UV and dye. During pre‐treatment the organism shows more survival than during post‐treatment with the fluorochrome. This differential response is discussed in the light of repair mechanisms involved in the organism.

Effect of a new fluorochrome on pre- and post-UV treatment of Taphrina maculans Butler.

Taphrin maculans BUTLER incites leaf spots disease in turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) plants. The pathogen forms two types of colonies namely, salmon-red and and creamy-white in the artificial medium when isolated from a single infection spot. Both strains resemble yeasts in morphology. The two strains were subjected to UV irradiation. The salmon-red one showed higher resistance to UV than the white one, presumably due to the presence of a red pigment in the former. When spores of the salmon-red strain were pre-treated with a new fluorochrome HOECHST 33258 the survival decreased. Decreased survival of the salmon-red strain was also observed during post-treatment which is probably due to the combined effect of UV and dye. The creamy-white strain differs from the salmon-red one in UV sensitivity, and also during combined treatment with UV and dye. During pre-treatment the organism shows more survival than during post-treatment with the fluorochrome. This differential response is discussed in the light of repair mechanisms involved in the organism.

Intraseasonal Growth Variation and Cultivation of Sugar-cane

IN my previous work1,2, I have explained the parabolic growth-variation as noticed in the sizes of the successive leaves, internodes, flowers, fruits and seeds formed from time to time during a season, stressing the importance of this knowledge for the selection of better planting material. The influence of the robustness of seed or planting material on the progeny and yield has been sufficiently stressed by many3. I have applied this method successfully to the cultivation of sugar-cane, rice, cotton, mulberry, turmeric and many other plants on an experimental scale, and feel that this could be applied with advantage to the cultivation of most plants.