Gurumayum Jitendra Sharma

Manipur University · Life Science Department

Curcuma kakchingense Bidyaleima, Kishor & Sharma, a new species of Curcuma subg. Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) from Manipur, northeast India is described and illustrated. The species has close resemblance to C. phrayawan and C. longa but is distinguished by having lemon-yellow coloured rhizomes with a very bitter taste, glabrous dark reddish-brown bladel...

Fresh rhizome extracts of four elite Zingiber species, viz., Zingiber kangleipakense, Zingiber montanum, Zingiber officinale, and Zingiber zerumbet, prepared in 60% aqueous ethanol/60% aqueous methanol solutions were used for assessing their comparative free radical scavenging and radioprotective properties. Various methods, such as ferric ion redu...

Antitumor activity of 50% ethanol bark extract of Magnolia grandiflora Linn. was evaluated against tumors induced in mice using dimethyl benzanthracene (DMBA) and 3-methyl cholanthrene (MC). The activity was assessed using the ability of the plant extract in reducing tumor weight, tumor volume and lung weight. The plant extract treated groups showe...

The present investigation was done to assess the cytological information and genetic relationships among six species of Zingiber, viz., Zingiber capitatum, Z. kangleipakense, Z. kerrii, Z. montanum, Z. officinale and Z. zerumbet found in Manipur, North-East India. The somatic chromosome numbers observed were 2n = 22 for Zingiber capitatum, Z. kerri...

Present research was designed to evaluate the free radical scavenging capacities and antioxidant activities of rhizome extracts of Alpinia galanga prepared in different solvent systems (60% aqueous methanol, 60% aqueous ethanol and distilled water) using different in vitro chemical assays. Antioxidant components such as total phenolic content (TPC)...

The P8 stem-loop region of the trnL intron, which is known to be hypervariable in size with multiple repeat motifs and created difficulties in alignment, is always excluded in phylogenetic as well as barcode analyses. This region was investigated for species discrimination in 98 taxa of orchids belonging to the tribe Vandeae using in silico mapping...

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the total phenolic, flavonoid and ascorbic acid contents as well as the free radical scavenging potential of Zingiber kangleipakense (Kishor & Škorničk) in different solvent systems. Antioxidant properties were determined using thiyl free radical scavenging assay, ferric ion reducing power (FRP) as...

Two new triterpenoids, pomiferate (Ia) and 3β-hydroxyurs-12-ene (Ib), are isolated together with three known compounds.

3β-Acetoxyurs-12-ene 1, 3β-hydroxyurs-12-ene 2 and three other triterpenoids, 3β-hydroxyurs-12-en-27-oic acid 3, 3β-hydroxyolean-12-en-27-oic acid 4 and 3α-acetoxyolean-12-en-27-oic acid 5 have been isolated from Ficus pomifera Wall. Their chemical structures have been established by spectroscopic analysis. The structure of compound 1 is confirmed...

Development of radioprotective agents has been a subject of intense research to ameliorate the aftermath of exposure to radiation exposure. The aim of the study was to determine the antioxidant and radioprotective potentials of the fruit extract of Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. Free radical scavenging activity of O. indicum fruit extracts was determi...

Introduction: Zingiber montanum is a known medicinal plant and non-conventional spice food widely and wildly grown in the wetland ecosystems within the Indo-Burmese mega-biodiversity ‘hotspot' region. Rhizome extract of Z. montanum has been shown to display significant anti-oxidant potential. Methods: Anti-oxidant profiles of rhizome extracts (aque...

The present study aims at determining the ability of 60% ethanol extract of the rhizome of Zingiber montanum (J. König) A. Dietr. to protect bone marrow cells in vivo from radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations. Albino rats (Rattus norvegicus, 2n = 42) were used to carry out investigations on the radioprotective properties of Z. montanum. Acute...

Costus pictus D. Don is a potent anti-diabetic plant used in folk, ayurvedic and homeopathic system of medicine. Gene and protein expression of key targets in insulin signaling pathway have revealed that methyl tetracosonoate, a bio-active molecule from Costus pictus extract has anti-diabetic activity. The axillary buds of Costus pictus are dormant...

Costus pictus D. Don is a potent anti-diabetic plant used in folk, ayurvedic and homeopathic system of medicine. Gene and protein expression of key targets in insulin signaling pathway have revealed that methyl tetracosonoate, a bio-active molecule from Costus pictus extract has anti-diabetic activity. The axillary buds of Costus pictus are dormant...

Free radical scavenging activities of rhizome extracts of Acorus calamus, Curcuma longa, Paris polyphylla, and Zingiber montanum were established in vitro Z. montanum in 60% methanol showed a significant radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 0.34 ± 0.06 mg.mL−1 and 0.68 ± 0.08 mg.mL−1 in DPPH and superoxide free radical assays. It also pr...

Successful propagation from seeds of Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro was achieved by in vitro methods. Incidence of sporadic flowering was recorded. The descriptions of inflorescence and floral morphology are in agreement with the prior taxonomic descriptions but a more detailed description and illustrations are presented in this communication. In vi...

An efficient in vitro regeneration protocol was developed for Capsicum chinense Jacq. cv. 'Chiengpi' using shoot-tip and axillary shoot explants. Shoot-tip explants proliferated shoot buds in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 5 or 10 mg/l 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP). The regenerated shoot buds showed rooting on medium containing 0.5...

Acorus calamus is an important medicinal plant which has been used in Indian traditional medicine since time immemorial. Various bioactive molecules, viz., acorin, α- and β-asarone, asaryldehyde, caryophylene, isoasarone, methylisoeugenol, and safrol have been isolated from this plant. However, the use of this plant for medicinal purpose has been r...

The gingers are well-known for their medicinal and economic significance and occur chiefly in the tropical regions of the world mainly in the Indo-Malaysian area of Asia. From Manipur in northeast India, 33 species under 9 genera have been collected from different parts of the State. Collected specimens were planted in the Experimental Field of the...

The tropical ginger, Zingiber montanum (J. Konig) A. Dietr. (syn. Zingiber cassumunar Roxb.), is a known medicinal plant and non-conventional spice food widely and wildly grown in the wetland ecosystems of Manipur within the Indo-Burmese mega-biodiversity 'hotspot' region. The bio-active molecules present in the rhizome predominantly are alflabene,...

Seven chilli landraces of Manipur belonging to three cultivated species of Capsicum (Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens, and Capsicum chinense) form economically important food crops of the region. The genotypes were characterized using ten random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The cluster analysis based on Jaccard's similarity coeffic...

Nodal segments of Costus speciosus (Koen.) Sm. containing single axillary buds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS medium) supplemented with plant growth regulators for inducing plantlets. For breaking of axillary bud dormancy, nodal segments were cultured on 40-70gl-1 sucrose or 1-13 M adenine sulphate (AdS) supplemented MS basal mediu...

Nodal segments of Costus speciosus (Koen.) Sm. containing single axillary buds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS medium) supplemented with plant growth regulators for inducing plantlets. For breaking of axillary bud dormancy, nodal segments were cultured on 40-70gl-1 sucrose or 1-13 µM adenine sulphate (AdS) supplemented MS basal medi...

The Indo-Burmese mega-biodiversity 'hotspot' houses a number of ornamental orchids belonging to rare, endangered, threatened and vulnerable species possessing highly attractive flowers. However, till date, many of these beautiful orchids growing in the pristine forests of north-east India have remained largely unexplored and unexploited. Renanthera...

A facile, convenient and high yielding synthesis of a combinatorial library of 3-alkanoyl/aroyl/heteroaroyl-2H-chromene-2-thiones has been developed by the condensation of easily accessible beta-oxodithioesters and salicylaldehyde/substituted 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes under solvent-free conditions. The assessment of radical scavenging capacity of the...

A procedure for in vitro propagation of Arundinaria callosa Munro has been developed. The method allows bud-break from nodal segments containing single axillary bud on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). The early bud-break was obtained in 8.9-13.3 M BAP, within 8-15 days. The p...

An efficient micropropagation protocol was established for Capsicum chinense Jacq. cv. Umorok, a pungent chilli cultivar. Shoot-tip explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing cytokinins (22.2–88.8 µM 6-benzylaminopurine, BAP, 23.2–93.0 µM kinetin, Kin, or 22.8–91.2 µM zeatin, Z) alone or in combination with 5.7 µM indole-3...

Six chilli cultivars belonging to three species of Capsicum: Capsicum annuum L. (cvs 'Meiteimorok' and 'Haomorok'), Capsicum frutescens L. (cvs 'Uchithi' and 'Mashingkha') and Capsicum chinense Jacq. (cvs 'Umorok' and 'Chiengpi') are economically important food crops. The capsaicin content and pungency in scoville heat unit (SHU) of these six chill...

To reduce the threatening pressure on the orchids in wild, an attempt has been made to synthesize hybrids, particularly ornamental ones, using certain rare and endangered species as parents. Aerides odoratum Lour., Ascocentrum ampullaceum (Roxb.) Schlltr. var. auranticum Pradhan, Renanthera imschootiana Rolfe, Vanda coerulea Griff. Ex. L., V. stang...

In vitro regeneration from leaf, cotyledon and hypocotyl explants of six cultivars belonging to three species of Capsicum was achieved by direct organogenesis. The cultivar Umorok showed the best response while Meiteimorok, Haomorok, Mashingkha and Uchithi showed intermediate response and the cultivar Chiengpi was the least responsive. Leaf and cot...

Renanthera imschootiana and Vanda coerulea are two rare and endangered orchid species featuring in IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants as well as in Red Data Book of Indian Plants, and are renowned for their unique ornamental traits. Renanthera imschootiana and V.coerulea have different flowering periods and by taking opportunity of off-season flowe...

An efficient micropropagation protocol was developed for Capsicum annuum L. cv. 'Morok Amuba', an ornamental chilli cultivar using shoo-tip and axillary shoot-tip explants. Multiple shoot buds were induced from shoot-tip explants on MS medium containing cytokinins alone or in combination with IAA. A maximum number of shoot buds was induced on MS me...

A novel micropropagation protocol was established for Capsicum frutescens L. cv. ‘Uchithi’, a pungent chilli cultivar, through induction of axillary shoot proliferation of in vitro raised plantlets by decapitation and using the axillary shoots as explants for multiple shoot bud induction. About 2–6 axillary shoots were induced within 2 weeks when 4...

A highly economical medium for in vitro zygotic embryo germination of two priority species of rattan (Calamus latifolius Roxb. and Calamus tenuis Roxb.) has been used for the first time. Seedling growth of embryo explants in three different media, namely, Murashige and Skoog medium (MS), woody plant medium (WPM) and Y3 medium supplemented with plan...

The present study focuses on hybridization program involving two species belonging to two different vandaceous genera, viz., Ascocentrum ampullaceum (Roxb.) Schltr. var. auranticum, a narrow endemic orchid of Manipur and Vanda coerulea Griff., an endangered orchid of Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wi...

Shoot-tip and axillary shoot explants were used for in vitro regeneration and mass multiplication of two Capsicum annuum L. cultivars, Meiteimorok and Haomorok. Shoot-tip explants excised from in vitro-raised seedlings were used for multiple shoot bud induction in MS medium supplemented with BAP alone or in combination with IAA. Maximum number of s...

Rattans, the climbing palms, are one of the most important non-wood forest produce after timber, supporting the livelihood of many forest-dwelling communities in South and South-East Asia. They are known for their strength, durability, elasticity and lightness and are used in making a variety of products. Excessive harvest, loss of habitat and poor...

Rhizomalous buds of Kaempferia galanga and K. rotunda induced microshoots when cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with plant growth regulators. Multiple shoots were induced on MS medium containing 5.70 μM IAA alone and a combination of 0.57 μM IAA plus 4.65 μM Kn in case of K. galanga. Whereas, the medium supplemented with 2.6...

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Rhizomatous buds of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. -a medicinally important aromatic herb -were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with plant growth regulators for inducing microshoots. Explants inoculated in 4.44 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) showed 100% response giving both multiple shoots (70%) and single shoots (30%). However, single...

Rhizome extracts of some members of the medicinal Zingiberales are widely used in dietary intake as well as in the traditional system of medicine. Curcumin, the chrome orange-yellow coloring compound present in turmeric rhizomes, has long been known to possess antioxidant property. Crude methanol extracts of the rhizomes of 11 species--Alpinia allu...

Genetic variation of eight genotypes of tree beans grown in Manipur, India was investigated at the DNA level using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Of the 12 random primers used 8 were analysed and a total of 95 bands scored. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 0 to 57.14 with an average of 42.10 per primer. Pair-wise comp...

The isolation of high quality DNA from plants containing high levels of polysaccharides and polyphenols has been a difficult problem. The use of liquid nitrogen, mortar and pestle, and young leaves does not always favour in handling large sample sizes for analysis. We demonstrate an easy and rapid extraction process by modifying many existing ones....

Turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) which is cultivated by underground rhizomes is a slow propagating species. Multiplication and callus induction starting from the rhizome buds and shoot tips of C. longa in MS medium was carried out. A combination of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA; 1.0 mg/l) with kinetin (Kn; 1.0 mg/l) or NAA (1.0 mg/l) with 6-benzylamin...

The effect of gamma radiation in improving the shelf life of three-quarter ripe and fully ripe pineapple fruit by reducing the incidence of fungal infection, predominantly caused by Ceratocystis paradoxa, is described. Ananas comosus irradiated at 50, 100 and 150 Gy and stored at 25-29°C with 90-97% relative humidity maintained their texture better...

Antifungal activities of extracts of sixteen plants were tested against Ceratocystis paradoxa which causes soft rot of pineapples. Xanthium strumarium was the most effective followed by Allium sativum. The effectiveness of various extracts against C. paradoxa was in the decreasing order of Meriandra bengalensis, Mentha piperita, Curcuma longa, Phlo...

The application of gamma radiation for improving the storage of pineapple fruits [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. cv. Queen] has been studied in an attempt to reduce decay caused by fungal pathogens such as Ceratocystis paradoxa (Dade)-Moreau and Penicillium purpurogenum Stoll. Gamma radiation at 50, 75, 100, 150, and 250 Gy improved shelf life. The maxi...

Modification of radiosensitivity of oxic and anoxic damage in ‘dry’ as well as ‘metabolizing’ barley seeds by S-2-(3-aminopropylamino) ethylphosphorothioic acid (WR-2721) was investigated. It was found that WR-2721, a well-known euoxic radioprotector in several mammalian systems, enters into the seeds as an intact entity and confers significant rad...

Caffeine affords partial radioprotection against oxic damage, but potentiates anoxic damage in dry as well as presoaked barley seeds. Since our earlier studies have implicated a physicochemical pathway of action for such differential modification by caffeine, the effect of inorganic substances, known to scavenge specific categories of free radicals...

The post-irradiation modification of radiosensitivity of barley seeds with about 7% water content by hydrogen sulphide and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) applied during oxygenated or oxygen-free hydration was studied. H2S, which causes about 18% seedling injury to unirradiated seeds, effectively decreases the post-irradiation oxygen-dependent damage (Power...