Authors :
R. Anandalakshmi, T. Vamadevan, M. Anandha Prabhakaran, K. Suresh Kumar and C. Rajesh
Author Address :
R. Anandalakshmi, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Forest Campus, RS Puram, Coimbatore – 641002, Tamil Nadu, India, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Forest Campus, RS Puram, Coimbatore – 641002, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract :
Sapindus emarginatus or Soapnut, a valuable Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) of Tamil Nadu, has been evaluated for its scope towards tree improvement, domestication and mass multiplication. In this process the variability existing among four populations, namely, Pillur, Thengumarada, Mettupalayam and Palani was studied using saponin content, an active principle. Saponin content varied significantly across the populations and indicated better opportunities for exploiting the variability in tree improvement of S. emarginatus to produce high saponin yielding accessions. However, four isozyme systems namely, alcohol dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phostate dehydrogenase and isocitrate dehydrogenase evaluated for their efficacy in distinguishing the populations, showed monomorphic band at single loci indicating lack of prevalence of polymorphism among the 4 populations suggesting low heterozygosity. It emphasises need for inclusion of more populations for tree improvement of S. emarginatus.
Keywords :
Sapindus, NTFP, saponin, isozyme, genetic variability and polymorphism