Exploration, collection and evaluation of brahmi (bacopa monniera wettst.)

Abstract

The study on “Exploration, Collection and Evaluation of brami (Bacopa monniera wettst.) was undertaken during 2004-2006 at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Kerala Agricultural University for evaluating the collected accessions from different eco-geographical locations of Kerala based on the morphological characters and the pharmaceutically important constituent i.e. bacoside-A. Twenty-nine accessions of Bacopa monniera collected from different eco-geographical locations were examined for genetic variability carried in them. The accessions were grown in pots, arranged in completely random block design, replicated twice, and observed for eight quantitative characters and bacoside-A content in the herbage. All the accessions were distinctly different irrespective of the geographical locations from where they were collected. The accessions were grouped into five clusters and the accessions showed no parallelism between clusters and geographical distribution. The bacoside-A content of the herbage was found to be low in the accessions possessing high internodal length and more number of flowers. Positive correlations for bacoside content was observed with shoot length, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area and biomass. The accessions, which flowered late, had good bacoside-A content. The accessions collected from Ernakulam district recorded good bacoside content when compared to accessions from other districts. The accession from Delhi recorded very trace amount of bacoside-A content. Bacoside content and biomass, which are very important for ayurvedic practioners had high heritabilities indicating the consistency of these two irrespective of the effect of the environment. It can be inferred that both the gross agroclimatic environment of the region and microenvironment in the vicinity of the water bodies where Bacopa monniera genotypes occur will regulate its growth and the content of bacoside-A.