VARIATION OF CHEMO-BOTANICAL CHARACTERS IN THE INDIGENOUS COLLECTIONS OF RAUVOLFIA SERPENTINA

Abstract

The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources undertook the collection of RaurJolfia serpentina L. from its natural habitats in the Western Ghats of the country. The highest range ofvariation for totalrootweightlplant and N,o. of secondary rools/plant was observed in the collections from Coondapur and Conacana regions of Karnataka and Goa, respectively. These two characters contribute to high alkaloid recovery. The Coondapur region gave the highest range (1.58-2.03) of total alkaloids with a mean of 1.81. The same pattern was observed for reserpine content with the range of 0.07~.24and mean value of 0.16%. Such chemo-botanical variation in these materials is natural due to theirgeographic, ecologicaland topographic variation. On the basis of these studies, it is highly desirable to make more intensive and systematic collection of these types from these regions for conservation and utilization.