PGTD of Botany

Gorewada reservoir and adjacent area (1885 Ha) now converted into International Biopark abodes a variety of plant community to its credit. A study has been carried out to elucidate the aquatic flora with diverse plant wealth, indicator plants and their ecological status in wetlands of Gorewada catchment area.114 plants species with 33 families have been identified from the Gorewada wet land area. 67 species belong to dicotyledons and 47 are monocotyledons.

The present paper deals with in vitro produced phytochemicals of Canscora decurrens (Dalzell) such as alkaloids, flavanoids, phenols, steroids, anthracene glycosides and triterpenoids etc for their antibacterial activities against human pathogenic strains viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Rhodococci sp., Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas sp, Salmonella sp. and Bacillus stearothermophilus. The investigation suggests that the plant may be used in therapeutic treatments of gastrointestinal disorders, diarrhoea and skin diseases.

There are sporadic reports on urban forests in Indian cities. Nagpur is one of the greenest cities of India with 18 per cent of its area under forests and plantations, 17 per cent under cultivation and 2 per cent under water bodies. The present study showed that natural vegetation of the city is very well diversified with a representation of 59 per cent vegetation including 124 trees species belonging to 38 families as compared with the overall district vegetation statistics. Air quality in the city is relatively better with lower SO 2 (6 g/m 3), NO 2 (18 g/m 3) and Respirable Suspended Particulate Matters (RSPM, 53 g/m 3) as against National Ambient Air Quality Standards (2009) for cities in India of 80, 80 and 100 g/m 3 , respectively. It was also noted that the diversity in natural forests which are being protected is greater than the plantations undertaken by the civic authorities and private sector efforts. The study thus demonstrated the positive relationship of the city with diversified vegetation cover for cleaner environment. The analysis is expected to guide formulation of strategies for maintaining green space in the city.

The present paper deals with In-vitro callus induction and shoot regeneration in Physalis minima (L.). Physalis minima belong to the family Solanaceae, a small herbaceous annual plant grown as weed in the crop field. Ethnobotanical information showed that this plant has tremendous medicinal value for cure out different diseases. Study includes multiple shoot cultures to regenerate whole plant from callus of apical leaf, node and root explants. The present study highlights the importance of plant tissue culture in order to be used for large-scale production of drug at cost affordable levels. This study can be utilized to develop a standard protocol to initiate multiple shoot culture of plant that may provide a good source of pharmacologically active plant constituents. Callus culture were initiated from leaf, shoot tip and root explants on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with different concentrations of hormone(s), alone or in combination, for rapid initiation of callus and b...

Continuous botanical explorations in the various localities of Nagpur District resulted into the some novel additions to the floristic wealth of district. Authors have collected 4 plant specimens from 3 different families viz. Mutingia calabura L. (Mutingiaceae), Mikania micrantha Kunth; Centratherum punctatum (Asteraceae) and Clerodendrum splendens G. Don (Verbenaceae) for the first time from this region. Plant specimens were collected, identified with the help of literatures and various floras.

Indians have great knowledge of phytomedicines. This valuable knowledge has been conserved in the living folk traditions in ethnic communities. An attempt has been made to explore traditional medicinal knowledge of plant materials, available in forest villages of Goregaon and Deori forest range of Gondia district, Maharashtra state. Gondia is one of the prominently categorized districts with maximum tribal population in Maharashtra which includes mostly Gond, Gowari, Halbi, Manah tribes with great numbers. In this study we documented about 49 plant species of various families which are commonly used by the tribal people to cure some common diseases viz. Dysentery, acute headache, toothache and carries, urinary troubles, skin diseases, antidote against snake bite, vomiting and many more. Ethnobotanical information were gathered through several visits, group discussions and cross checked with traditional medical practitioner of the study area.

Through varietal improvement, bushy and determinate and indeterminate Lablab bean (Lablab purpureus var. typicus Prain) and Field bean (Lablab purpureus var. lignosus Prain) varieties were developed in India. A comparative study among the improved cultivars for phenotypic and nutritional traits was attempted. The phenotypic traits selected for comparison are growth habit, earliness and yield. The nutritional traits studied include crude fiber, protein content, free amino acids, tryptophan, methionine and proline and the anti-nutritional traits include trypsin inhibitors, tannic acid and total phenols. The determinate bushy varieties are early, do not require any support for growth with desirable pod traits suitable for human consumption. There is variation in proximate principle content, nutritional parameters (free amino acids, methionine, tryptophan and proline) and anti-nutritional contents trypsin inhibitors, tannic acid and total phenol in different varieties of Lablab and Field beans. There is a great scope to develop varities of Labab bean having good balance between nutritional and anti-nutritional factors. Soaking, germination and cooking of beans hold a good promise for improving the nutritional value of lablab/ field beans by reducing the anti-nurtritional factors.

Indigenous communities of Arjuni/Mor Taluka possess ethnoveterinary knowledge about usage of plants and plant products. They depend on traditional animal healthcare practices due to inadequate advanced animal healthcare facilities in rural area. A total number of 52 ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species under 51 genera belonging to 37 families are used to cure 23 different diseases in the study area. Caesalpiniaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae and Solanaceae were the dominant families with 3 species each and in life form category herbs stand dominant with 20 species followed by trees (16 species), shrubs (10 species) and Climbers (06 species) respectively. Leaf is the most frequently used plant part for medicinal purposes. 31(59.61%) of the ethnoveterinary plants showed a use value (UV) of equals to or more than 0.50. This indicates the high acceptance of these plants in the primary healthcare of domestic animals.

Tribal and rural people of Arjuni/Mor taluka depend on plant products for their primary healthcare and food. Indigenous communities of study area possess ethnomedicinal knowledge about usage of plants and the invasive alien plants are not the exception. A total number of 54 invasive alien species under 47 genera belonging to 26 families have been recorded, of which 38 (70.37%) and 8 (14.81%) species are being used for medicinal and food purposes respectively. Asteraceae was the dominant family with 7 species and in life form category herbs stand dominant with 34 species. Leaf is the most frequently used plant part for both medicinal and food purposes in the study area. 35 (64.81%) of the invasive plants showed a use value of more than 0.50. This indicates the high acceptance of these plants in the primary healthcare and other ethnobotanical usage. Out of the total of 54 species, 23 species were under the naturalised category of degree of invasiveness followed by 16 species introduced, 07 species possibly invasive, 04 species moderately invasive and 04 species highly invasive. The use of invasive alien species as part of management strategy could leads to the native plant diversity conservation and allows the indigenous vegetation to convalesce thereby enhancing the region's biodiversity. However, the information generated through this study will be helpful for future phytochemical and pharmacological studies.

The study area is inhabited by Gond tribes. Tribals and most of forest dwellers mainly depend on plants and plant product for their food. This study reveals that the ethnic people and forest dwellers have considerable traditional knowledge of wild edible plants and their utilization. This paper report is based on survey, interview and field work studies on wild edible plants used by tribals and rural people