title: Antioxidants and ROS scavenging ability in ten Darjeeling tea clones may serve as markers for selection of potentially adapted clones against abiotic stress.
abstract: Ten Darjeeling tea clones (BT15/263, RR17/144, B777, T253, B157, Sundaram, HV39, AV2, K1/1 and TTV1) were collected from the experimental garden of Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre, Kurseong. Total phenol, flavonoids and two antioxidating enzymes (peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) were estimated. The total phenol ranged between 241 and 28 GAE mg g(-1) of leaf dry weight. The highest amount obtained in four clones, B15/263 (241.47), RR17/144 (221.2), B777 (154.54) and B157 (140.23 mg g(-1)). Flavonoids were estimated as Catechin equivalent (CE) and ranged between 56.88 and 20.81 CE mg g(-1) leaf dry weight. Higher amounts occurred in BT15/263 (56.88 mg g(-1)), B777 (56.69) and RR17/144 (48.63). Antioxidant activities were measured following DPPH and ABTS free radicle scavenging procedures and the results were well according to total polyphenol content among the clones (in total phenols, ranges of correlation in DPPH assay were r (2)  = 0.990-0.989, p ≤ 0.05; in flavonoids r (2)  = 0.954, p ≤ 0.01-0.987, p ≤ 0.05). Similarly, ABTS percent scavenging results were quiet significant. The IC50 values were determined for both DPPH and ABTS assay. PAGE expressions of isoforms in two antioxidative enzymes and quantification of them also varied much among the investigated clones. The incidence of total phenols, flavonoids, PRX and SOD and ROS scavenging assay in in-situ condition, might be used as biochemical markers towards the superior adaptability against abiotic stress. In the present work, four clones (B15/263, B777, RR17/144 and B157) would be designated as comparatively better suited to the predicted abiotic stress.
authors.affiliation: Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203, B.T. Road, Kolkata, 700108 India.
authors.forename: Nirjhar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.affiliation: Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre, A.K. Mukherjee Road, Kurseong, Darjeeling, 734203 India.
authors.forename: Prosenjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre, A.K. Mukherjee Road, Kurseong, Darjeeling, 734203 India.
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre, A.K. Mukherjee Road, Kurseong, Darjeeling, 734203 India.
authors.forename: Narendra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Tea Board of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, 14, B.T.M Sarani, Kolkata, 700001 India.
authors.forename: Biswajit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.affiliation: Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203, B.T. Road, Kolkata, 700108 India.
authors.forename: Sauren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
keywords: ABTS; DPPH; Darjeeling tea; Flavonoids; Free radicle scavenging; Peroxidase; Superoxide dismutase; Total phenols