scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Topic

Withania somnifera

About: Withania somnifera is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2116 publications have been published within this topic receiving 43404 citations. The topic is also known as: Ashwaganda & Indian ginseng.


Papers
More filters
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The results showed that the level of genetic variation was high among the Ashwagandha genotypes and the groups/clusters obtained by molecular marker could also be distinguished by dissimilarity/similarity for the morphological characteristics within each group.
Abstract: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (solanaceae), also known as Asandh, Asagandh and Ashwagandha in local languages is an important medicinal crop in India. In Ayurveda the plant of W. somnifera is considered to cure swelling, poultices lesions, tubercular ulcers, scabies, ophthalmia, muscular pain, dropsy, rheumatism, diabetes and even cancer. Despite of its diverse medicinal uses, the genotype characterization and molecular diversity studies till date in W. somnifera are very few. Twenty Ashwagandha genotypes were evaluated for genetic diversity using morphological and RAPD markers. Nine morphological traits were studied and subjected to analysis of variance, estimation of different variability parameters, correlation and path coefficient analysis. RAPD analysis was carried out and 9 random primers produced 46 bands, of which 41 were polymorphic and reproducible with 89.13% polymorphism. Based on the RAPD analysis, dendrogram was constructed using UPGMA method and the similarity coefficient ranged from 0.37 to 0.86 with an average of 0.65. The results showed that the level of genetic variation was high among the Ashwagandha genotypes. The groups/clusters obtained by molecular marker could also be distinguished by dissimilarity/similarity for the morphological characteristics within each group. The results of the present study can be used for W. somnifera crop improvement through molecular breeding and Marker assisted selection of for desired traits in future.

2 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the leaves of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal with the roots of the same species in terms of antioxidant content and activity, as well as macroand microelements concentration.
Abstract: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is popular in the traditional medicine of many areas of the world due to its high biological activity. Research was carried out in order to characterize the plants of this species in terms of antioxidant content and activity, as well as macroand microelements concentration in leaves and roots plants grown along Crimea sea coast, which receive an intensive element transfer from the sea surface. The leaves of Withania somnifera showed higher levels of polyphenols, flavonoids and total antioxidant activity compared to roots (7.52 mg eq. GA g d.w., 2.30 mg eq. quercetin g d.w. and 38.2 mg eq. GA g d.w. in leaves; 3.83 mg eq. GA g d.w; 0.48 mg eq. quercetin g d.w. and 10.8 mg eq. GA g d.w. in the roots). Withanolides content in roots reached 0.62 %. The determination of 25 macroand microelements revealed that Withania somnifera intensively accumulated Ca, K, Mg, P, B, I, Li, Mn, Mo, Si and Zn in leaves, whereas the concentration of V, Cr, Fe and Al in roots exceeded those recorded in leaves by 5.5, 5.86, 4.35 and 5.26 times respectively. The highest difference between leaves and roots concentration was detected for Li whose content in leaves was 10 times higher than in roots. Among other cultivated herbs (14 species belonging to Artemisia and Myrthus), Withania somnifera showed the highest levels of Li which makes it suppose this species is a good Li source for humans. Moreover, the leaves of W. somnifera contain high levels of iodine.

2 citations


Network Information
Related Topics (5)
Antioxidant
37.9K papers, 1.7M citations
79% related
Essential oil
32.6K papers, 625.2K citations
78% related
Gallic acid
9.6K papers, 287K citations
78% related
Quercetin
7.7K papers, 333.3K citations
78% related
Antibacterial activity
18.4K papers, 322.4K citations
78% related
Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023114
2022265
202188
2020124
201995
2018111