title: Seasonal variations in harvest index and bacoside A contents amongst accessions ofBacopa monnieri(L.) Wettst. collected from wild populations.
abstract: Bacoside A, a major active principle ofBacopa monnieriknown for its cognitive effects is a mixture of saponins like bacoside A3, bacopaside II, isomer of bacopasaponin C and bacopasaponin C. Seasonal changes in biomass and bacoside A levels in fourteen accessions ofB. monnieriwere evaluated after maintaining these at a common site at Thapar University campus, Patiala (30°19'36.12″N and 76°24'1.08″E) for 1 year. Harvestable biomass and total bacoside A contents varied significantly between the accessions and also in a particular accession during different seasons of the year. The maximum dry weight of plant (biomass 1.64 g) and bacoside A levels (6.82 mg/plant) were recorded in accession BM1. Harvestable biomass was highest during summer in accessions BM1 and BM7 (FW 4.2 g/plant), whereas bacoside A levels were also highest during summer and in accession BM1 (6.82 mg/plant). The lowest bacoside A level (0.06 mg/plant) was recorded in accession BM14 during winter. Principal component analysis showed that samples of summer were positively correlated with both the components suggesting an appropriate time for the harvest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, TIFAC-Center of Relevance and Excellence in Agro and Industrial Biotechnology (CORE), Thapar University, Patiala, 147004 India.
authors.forename: Mahima
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, TIFAC-Center of Relevance and Excellence in Agro and Industrial Biotechnology (CORE), Thapar University, Patiala, 147004 India.
authors.forename: M Sudhakara
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, TIFAC-Center of Relevance and Excellence in Agro and Industrial Biotechnology (CORE), Thapar University, Patiala, 147004 India.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
keywords: Bacoside A; Harvest index; Memory enhancer; Relative growth rate