Understanding Cuminum cyminum: An important seed spice crop of arid and semi arid regions

Abstract

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) with chromosome number of 2n= 2x= 14 is an economically and pharmaceutically important small herb of family Apiaceae. It is mainly cultivated in India, Iran, Syria, Pakistan and Turkey. It is widely used in foods, beverages, liquors, medicines, toiletries and perfume industries. The mature dried fruit contains 2–5% essential oil. Though it is an important plant among seed spices, it suffers with various inherent problems. Low germination rate and poor seedling establishment are one of the major problems in cumin. Similarly, being a monotypic species, phenotypic and genetic variability in cumin is also low. Because of which there is no source of resistance available against biotic (Alternaria blight and Fusarium wilt) and abiotic (frost and salinity) stresses. The flowers being small and slender restricts possibilities of artificial pollination creating hinders in following recombination breeding for genetic improvement. Consequently, most of the varieties available today are developed by selections. A large number of efforts on identification of bioactive constituents and verification of pharmacological effects have been recorded in cumin. As compared to cumin's classical breeding including mutagenesis, very less effort have been made on molecular breeding. Therefore, practically no molecular tools are available and no genomics based breeding programmes for improvement of cumin have been initiated yet. In this communication, we underline the research attempts made in cumin on various aspects like genotype (G) and environment (E) effects on the seed biochemical constituents, mutation breeding, variability studies, tissue culture and genetic transformation, molecular markers studies and some future directions of research are also suggested.