Nutritional evaluation of some potential wild edible plants of North Eastern region of India.

Introduction: India's north-eastern hill region (NEH) is one of the biodiversity hotspots, inhabited by several tribal communities still maintaining their traditional food habits. Much of their food resources are drawn from wild sources. Materials and methods: Fourteen species of wild edible plants of high ethnic importance were collected from remote localities of Nagaland and Meghalaya states of the NEH region of India for nutritional profiling. Nutritional profiling of leaves of six species comprising Gynura cusimbua, Garcinia cowa, Herpetospermum operculatum, Plukenetia corniculata, Trichodesma khasianum, and Elatostemma sessile is conducted first time under present study. Samples were analyzed as per the Official Method of Analysis (AOAC) and standard methods. Results and discussion: The range of variation in proximate composition was observed for moisture (72-92%), protein (1.71-6.66%), fat (0.22-1.36%), dietary fibre (5.16-14.58%), sugar (0.30-3.41%), and starch (0.07-2.14%). The highest protein content (6.66%) was recorded in Herpetospermum operculatum, followed by Trichodesma khasianum (5.89%) and Plukenetia corniculata (5.27%). Incidentally, two of these also have high iron (>7.0 mg/100 g) and high zinc (>2.0 mg/100 g) contents, except Trichodesma khasianum, which has low zinc content. High antioxidant activities in terms of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) by the cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) method ranged from 1.10 to 8.40 mg/100 g, and by the Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) method ranged from 0.10 to 1.9 mg/100 g, while phenol content ranged between 0.30 and 6.00 mg/100 g. These wild vegetables have high potential because of their nutritional properties and are fully capable of enhancing sustainability and improving ecosystem services. Efforts were also initiated to mainstream these resources, mainly for widening the food basket of native peoples.

Genetic diversity analysis of specialty glutinous and low-amylose rice (Oryza sativa L.) landraces of Assam based on Wx locus and microsatellite diversity.

The sticky rice of Assam is traditionally classified as bora (glutinous) and chokuwa (semi-glutinous) based on their stickiness after cooking. The Waxy (Wx) gene encodes for granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS) that controls the synthesis of amylose, which is a key determinant of rice end-use quality attributes. In this report, we analysed the level of variation in grain quality traits in a collection of bora and chokuwa cultivars, and examined the nucleotide diversity at the Wx locus of selected rice accessions to identify the possible cause of low-amylose in these rice cultivar groups. The Wx gene sequencing from 24 bora and chokuwa cultivars revealed several nucleotide variations that can explain the variation in the amylose phenotypes. The nucleotide polymorphisms in the downstream intron regions were similar to those reported in Bangladeshi Beruin cultivars. Among the Wx polymorphisms, the CTn microsatellite in exon 1 and G/T SNP in intron 1 (G/T-Int1) should be considered for marker assisted breeding involving bora cultivars. The Wx gene tree, classified the bora accessions possessing the G/T-Int1 SNP as japonicas. However, cluster analysis using microsatellite markers classified the bora and chokuwa cultivars as indica, and intermediate of indica-aus. The findings of this study supplemented our understanding on the evolution of the Wx gene under human selection. The results will assist plant breeders to effectively improve the bora and chokuwa landraces.