Exploration, collection and conservation of Gymnema sylvestre germplasm from different parts of India

Abstract

Gymnema sylvestre is belongs to the family Apocynaceae. It is a high value medicinal plant which is used in Ayurvedic medicine due to its potential source of gymnemagenin. Gymnemagenin is the main active principle found in its leaves. Gymnema sylvestre is used to treat the diabetes since ancient times. The present study intensive explorations and collection of Gymnema sylvestre germplasm has been carried out from different parts of India to identify the high herbage yield coupled with high gymnemagenin type for sustainable production. The diverse areas are explored in the forest, tribal hilly areas and targeted diverse germplasm has been collected. During exploration, two types of variants were identified as narrow leaf type and broad leaf type. Two types of fruits have been observed in Gymnema viz., short length of fruit and longer fruits. Altogether five explorations were carried out and a total of 78 germplasm of Gymnema sylvestre has been collected from different areas of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. These genetic resources of Gymnema sylvestre has been maintained in the field gene bank at ICAR-DMAPR, Anand, Gujarat and further need to be characterize the germplasm for growth, yield and quality traits for the selection of elite germplasm for specific trait of interest.