MSc

The present investigation entitled “Diversity analysis of Chittamruthu
[Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.)] accessions from the Northern districts of Kerala” was
carried out in the Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Agriculture,
Vellayani during the period 2020-2022 with the objectives to estimate the genetic
variation in Chittamruthu accessions using SSR markers and its phytochemical
screening.
Chittamruthu plant samples (25 nos.) were identified and collected from 25
different locations in the 13 Agro-Ecological Units (AEUs) of North Kerala viz., AEU
2 [Mundayad, Kannur and Elathur, Kozhikode], AEU 6 [Thavanoor, Malapuram and
Iringalakkuda, Thrissur], AEU 7 [Cherukunnu, Kannur and Pilicode, Kasaragod], AEU
10 [Chelakkara, Thrissur and Madakkathara, Thrissur], AEU 11 [Kakkodi, Kozhikode
and Elamkulam, Malappuram], AEU 13 [Nilamboor, Malapuram and Peravoor,
Kannur], AEU 15 [Kelakam, Kannur and Kottiyoor, Kannur], AEU 18 [Attapadi,
Palakkad and Sholayur, Palakkad], AEU 19 [Attapadi, Palakkad and Pudur, Palakkad],
AEU 20 [Ambalavayal, Wayanad and Kalpatta, Wayanad], AEU 21 [Pulpalli, Wayanad
and Thirunelli, Wayanad], AEU 22 [Puthuppariyaram, Palakkad and Vadakkancherry,
Palakkad] and AEU 23 [Pattancherry, Palakkad].
The indigenous traditional uses of Chittamruthu plants documented through a
survey done in these locations are as follows. The plant could cure cough and cold, acts
as an anti-arthritis agent, a remedy for headache, treatment for indigestion and
constipation, cure skin issues, cure fever, relieve pain and inflammation in joints, cure
for urinary infection, treating diabetes, remedy for piles, control complications of
dengue fever, control the risk of cardio- vascular disorders and used as a liver tonic.
Morphological diversity analysis of Chittamruthu accessions had identified a
superior accession from North Kerala viz., accession 1 (T1) from Mundayad- Kannur
(AEU 2) possessing significantly higher stem diameter (1.93 cm), density of lenticels
(141.33 no.s), leaf petiole length (11.13 cm), laminar length (11.07 cm), laminar breadth
(12.03 cm) and leaf area (117.67 cm2
).
Molecular diversity analysis of Chittamruthu accessions were carried out using
10 SSR primers. Among them, four primers viz., TCTSSR 104, TCTSSR 92, TCTSSR126 and TCTSSR-59 found to be polymorphic in nature. The primer TCTSSR 104 was
found to be more informative for diversity analysis since, it has got higher
polymorphism information content (PIC) value, 0.46. The dendrogram obtained from
polymorphic SSR markers using NTSYS-pc software had grouped the 25 Chittamruthu
accessions into four major clusters. Cluster I and II included two accessions, cluster Ⅲ
contained three accessions and cluster Ⅳ was the largest cluster containing total of 18
accessions.
There exists phytochemical diversity among the 25 Chittamruthu accessions.
Qualitative analysis of Chittamruthu accessions exhibited the presence of alkaloids,
flavonoids, phenols, saponins and cardiac glycosides. Quantitative phytochemical
analysis revealed that T3, the accession obtained from Thavanoor, Malappuram (AEU
6) recorded the highest total alkaloid (102.89 µg AE mg-1
), total flavonoid (54.29 µg
QE mg-1
), total phenol content (116.54 µg GAE mg-1
) and cardiac glycosides (25.87 µg
DE mg-1
). Total saponins were found to be high (72.84 µg DE mg -1
) in the accession,
T13 obtained from Kelakam, Kannur (AEU 15).
The study revealed that Chittamruthu accessions collected from 13 different
AEUs of Northern districts of Kerala were found to be diverse in morphological,
molecular and phytochemical characteristics. The accession collected from Mundayad,
Kannur (AEU 2) found to possess superior morphological parameters and accession
collected from Thavanoor, Malappuram (AEU 6) found to be superior in phytochemical
quality. In addition, the Chittamruthu accessions collected from different AEU’s of
Northern Kerala could be clustered into four main clusters based on molecular diversity.