Abstract
India is the land of spices and grows more than fifty spices all over. The major spices grown in the tropical areas of India are Black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric and tree spices viz. cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, kokum etc. India is either primary or secondary center for many spices like black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and garcinias. The depletion of forest area, rampant distruction of forest trees and under growths and changes in the agro – ecological condtions all have led to a sharp decline in the population of many spices and their related taxa. If not collected and conserved these valuable genetic resource may lost for ever. Collection of germplasm and their conservation is one of the major mandates of ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research (ICAR- IISR), Kozhikode, India. Collection of spices germplasm and their conservation measures carried out in the country by ICAR- IISR and other research organizations to preserve the genetic reources are discussed in this chapter.
Keywords
1 Introduction
Spices have played a very important role in shaping the history of human culture and civilization. Spices, condiments and aromatic plants were the first articles traded between India and other countries since very olden days. The aroma of the oriental spices lured the foreigners to the land of spices – India – and finally Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar Coast on May 20, 1498, an event that changed Indian history in the centuries that followed.
Spices are aromatic vegetable products of tropical origin that are used, in a pulverized state or as whole, primarily for seasoning or garnishing foods and beverages besides their use in medicine, cosmetics and aromatherapy. They are characterized by pungency, strong odour and sweet or bitter taste. Included in this category are hard or hardened parts of plants such as black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, garcinia, etc.
The tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats are home for at least two major spices – black pepper and cardamom. It is also a secondary centre of origin of another spice cinnamon. The depletion of forest area, rampant destruction of the forest trees and undergrowth and changes in the agroecological conditions all have led to a sharp decline in the populations of wild pepper and cardamom and their related taxa. If not collected and conserved, these valuable genetic resource may be lost forever.
The ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode, is giving prime importance in collection and conservation of the biological diversity of spices from all over the country and even from abroad. At present the gene repository of IISR consists of 6989 accessions comprising wild accessions, land races and local cultivars of different spices. Black pepper (Piper nigrum L., Piperaceae), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton, Zingiberaceae), ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc., Zingiberaceae), turmeric (Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae) and tree spices such as nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt, Myristicaceae), clove (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr & Perry, Myrtaceae), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum Brecht & Presl, Lauraceae) and allspice (Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr., Myrtaceae) are the important spice crops handled by IISR.
An overview of the research achievements in conservation and genetic resources of spices in the country is discussed here.
2 Biodiversity of Black Pepper
Piper nigrum (Black pepper) belongs to the genus Piper, of the family Piperaceae. The distribution of Piper species ranges from sea level to the high ranges of Andes and the sub-Himalayas (Royle 1839). Trans-Gangetic region and the South Deccan are considered to be the two independent centres of origin of the genus Piper in India (Hooker 1886). Brazil, Central America, Malaysia, Mexico, Indian subcontinent, Tropical Australia, East Africa, Malagasy Republic, West Indies, Pampas area and Siam-Burma region are considered to be the centres of world distribution of the genus Piper (Datta and Dasgupta 1997; Rahiman and Nair 1983; Ravindran and Nirmal Babu 1994; Saji 2006). Species diversity and varietal diversity are the major components of biodiversity in the genus.
2.1 Species Diversity
The first report of Piper species of the Malabar region was by Van Rheede in his Hortus Malabaricus in which he described five species, of which four species were illustrated. Linnaeus (1753) established the genus Piper. He described 17 species and assigned five of them to Indian peninsula. The most authentic study of the genetic diversity of Piper is that of Gamble (1925) in his Flora of Presidency of Madras, in which he described 14 species of Piper with key for identification. The species reported by him are P. galeatum, P. trichostachyon, P. longum, P. hapnium, P. brachystachyum (syn. P. mullesua), P. hookeri, P. barberi, P. nigrum, P. hymenophyllum, P. attenuatum, P. argyrophyllum, P. schmidtii, P. wightii and P. betle (Fig. 1).
The Piper species originated from Southern Asia are of more importance since the economically important species like P. nigrum (black pepper), P. betle (betel vine), P. longum (long pepper), P. chaba (Java long pepper), P. cubeba (cubeb), etc. have originated from this region. The most important species of the genus, Piper nigrum, is believed to be originated from the wet humid regions of the Western Ghats of South India. The sub-mountainous tracts of Western Ghats are believed to be the centre of origin of black pepper – Piper nigrum Linn. About 111 species are reported from India which are more common to Western Ghats of South India (Table 1) and the Eastern Himalaya of North East India from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh (Table 2) (Index Kewensis 1906–1970; Hooker 1886; Naithani 1990; Gajurel et al. 2002). Eastern Himalayas and the neighbouring areas, viz. Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland, form a mega biodiversity area for Piper species in North East India. About 65 species are reported from this region (Gajurel et al. 1999). Even though ecosystem diversity does not contribute much to biodiversity of black pepper, species diversity and varietal diversity are considerable (Hooker 1886; Gamble 1925; Rahiman 1981; Ibrahim et al. 1985; Sasikumar et al. 1999).
Ravindran et al. (1987), Velayudhan and Amalraj (1992) and Nirmal Babu et al. (1993b) have reported five new taxa from Kerala, namely, P. silentvalleyensis, P. nigrum var. hirtellosum and P. pseudonigrum from Silent Valley biosphere reserve and P. sugandhi and P. sugandhi var. brevipilis from Sugandhagiri cardamom plantations, Wayanad, Kerala. Kumar and Mathew (2013) renamed P. pseudonigrum as P. velayudhani. Gajurel et al. (2000) reported a new record of P. acutistigmum C. DC. in India which is a native of Myanmar. Gajurel et al. (2001a, b, 2007) reported three new species, viz. P. haridasanii – a rare species – P. arunachalensis and P. nirjulianum. Lekhak et al. (2012, 2014) reported two new species, viz. P. relictum and P. dravidii, recently from the northern Western Ghats region at Maharashtra.
2.2 Cultivar Diversity
Cultivar diversity (Tables 3 and 4) is one of the principal components of diversity in the genus. The cultivars are evolved directly from the wild P. nigrum. Natural selection and conscious selection by humans for various traits have created diversity in cultivars.
Most of the vernacular names of black pepper varieties indicate a specific feature of the vine such as colour or appearance of the vine, leaf shape, spike features or the place from which the vine originated initially (Figs. 2 and 3).
2.3 Conservation
Though the early movement of settlers across the length and breadth of Kerala has helped the landraces (cultivars) to spread to new areas, the advent of improved high-yielding black pepper varieties/hybrids is becoming a serious threat to many of the old local cultivars. These local cultivars/land races may be lost if they are not collected and conserved. The species of Piper are the most affected by deforestation. Many of the taxa are now confined only to a few locations and may vanish from the planet, unless it is collected and conserved. Piper species like P. barberi, P. hapnium, P. silentvalleyensis, P. wightii and P. schmidtii are now confined to only a few locations.
The ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, is giving high priority to collection, conservation and cataloguing of genetic resources of black pepper. Systematic surveys of all pepper-growing areas, forests of the Western Ghats and part of the North Eastern regions have been conducted to collect the available variability of cultivated forms as well as wild relatives, and these accessions are being deposited and maintained at the black pepper germplasm conservatory at IISR, Kozhikode. Presently, IISR is in a unique position of having the largest germplasm collection of black pepper in the world consisting of 3395 accessions (Table 5). Besides these accessions, over 1200 hybrids and 120 open-pollinated progeny (OP) lines are also maintained.
Conservation of germplasm is done by adopting the following strategies.
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(a)
In the nurseries, each accession is in serial order and is under continuous multiplication by serpentine method.
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(b)
In the clonal repository, ten rooted cuttings of each line are maintained.
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(c)
In the field genebank, the accessions are planted for evaluation.
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(d)
In the in vitro genebank, the important accessions are conserved using tissue culture tools.
This four pronged conservation strategy is used because of the threat of disease and pests (e.g. Phytophthora foot rot and nematodes, etc.).
Besides the germplasm collections of IISR, Kozhikode, some accessions of black pepper germplasm are also maintained under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Spices (AICRPS) at various places (Table 6).
3 Biodiversity in Cardamom
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton) is indigenous to evergreen forests of Western Ghats in South India. It is a tall, herbaceous perennial with branching subterranean root stock belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. The cardamom of commerce is the dried mature capsules of the plant. Cardamom is generally cross-pollinated and propagated through seedlings and suckers. Being a cross-pollinated crop, rich diversity exists in nature with respect to plant growth attributes, morphology, capsule colour, shape and yield. Ecosystem diversity and species diversity are very limited in cardamom (Madhusoodanan et al. 1994).
3.1 Species Diversity
Willis (1984) included seven species in this genus that is distributed in the Indo-Malayan and Indonesian regions. But only one species is occurring in India, E. cardamomum, and it is the only species being used as a spice. Two botanical varieties were identified by the earlier workers, viz. var. major Thw. and var. minor Walt. But now var. major is treated as a separate species E. ensal (Gaertn.) Abheywickrama a native to Sri Lanka. E. longituba (Ridl) Holt. and E. aquatilis are other species endemic to Malaysia and Indonesia (Madhusoodanan et al. 2002).
3.2 Cultivar Diversity
The origin of cardamom is not clear. Holtum (1950) is of the view that E. cardamom and the Malaysian Elettaria represent parallel development from the genus Alpinia.
Three morphotypes are identified in cardamom based on the plant type:
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1.
Malabar: plants of medium size, panicle prostrate, capsule round to oblong
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2.
Mysore: plants robust, panicles erect, capsules greenish and elongate
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3.
Vazhuka: plant robust, panicles semierect, intermediate type between Malabar and Mysore
Cardamom occurs in its natural state only in the tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Besides these morphotypes, variability is observed for multiple branching of inflorescence, fruit shape, size and colour among the cultivars. In multiple branching types, the central peduncle undergoes further branching of secondary and tertiary branches producing compound panicle types (Fig. 4).
3.3 Conservation
The major reasons for genetic erosion is due to environmental hazards, like deforestation, forest fires, incidents of pests and diseases, and introduction of high-yielding varieties for large-scale cultivation. This may lead to the wiping out of the land races which are valuable genetic resources that can be utilized in the crop improvement programme. Survey, collection and conservation of cardamom genetic resources were initiated, and a good number of accessions are collected and these are now being conserved at IISR (IISR Regional Station, Appangala); Indian Cardamom Res. Institute, Myladumpara; Cardamom Res. Station, Pampadumpara (Kerala Agriculture University); Regional Res. Station, Mudigere; and Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud (Tamil Nadu Agriculture University). The present germplasm holding of cardamom in India is given in Table 7.
4 Diversity and Conservation of Ginger
Ginger consists of the dried and branched rhizomes of Zingiber officinale of the family Zingiberaceae, which is indigenous to South East Asia (Bailey 1949; Parry 1969). The crop is propagated exclusively through rhizomes. Maximum variability in cultivated ginger is found in Indian and the adjoining countries of South East Asia. In India, North Eastern States and Kerala are the principal regions of variability. Species diversity and varietal diversity are the principal components of biodiversity in ginger (Mohanty and Sharma 1979; Sasikumar et al. 1999, Fig. 5).
4.1 Species Diversity
The generic name Zingiber is probably derived from the Tamil word ‘ingiver’ meaning root of ingi or ginger. Zingiber is included in the tribe Hedycheae along with other genera such as Curcuma, Hedychium and Kaempferia (Holtum 1950) and in the series Zingiberaceae which contains only one genus, Zingiber. Gamble (1925) reported seven species from South India. Sabu (1991) described eight species from the Western Ghats and adjacent areas. They are Zingiber roseum. Rosc., Z. nimmonii Dalz., Z. wightianum Thaw., Z. zerumbet (L) Smith., Z. neesanum (Graham) Ramamoorthy (syn. Z. macrostachyum Dalz.), Z. cernum Dalz., Z. purpureum Roscoe (syn. Z. cassumunar Thw.) and Z. officinale Rosc.
Though Z. officinale Rosc. is the most important member of the genus economically, there are other species of medicinal and ornamental value (Sabu and Skinner 2005) (Table 8).
4.2 Cultivar Diversity
Most of the ginger cultivars (local cultivars) are mainly identified by their place of cultivation/collection. Considerable variability in cultivated ginger is present in Kerala and North East India. Ginger is propagated from rhizome saved from the previous harvest. Cultivated ginger though sterile exhibits variations in rhizome and vegetative characters with few primitive types excelling in quality (Jaleel and Sasikumar 2011). At present about 50 ginger cultivars, possessing various quality attributes and yield potential, are prevalent in India (Table 9).
4.3 Conservation
Many of the endemic races of ginger are facing extinction due to many reasons such as rhizome rot diseases, spread of few high-yielding ginger varieties, change in cropping pattern, etc. The ex situ genebank of Ginger at ICAR-IISR is having 675 accessions and consists of 508 cultivars, 92 accessions of related taxa and 59 exotic collections. All accessions are being maintained in cement tubs to protect them from diseases and also to maintain the purity of the genotypes. Besides ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode, AICRPS centres are also maintaining a sizable number of germplasm (Table 10).
5 Biodiversity of Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a rhizomatous spice propagated mainly through rhizomes. The genus Curcuma (family Zingiberaceae) comprising over 80 species of rhizomatous herbs is endowed with widespread adaptation from sea level to altitude as high as 2000 m in the Western Ghats and Himalayas. Having originated in the Indo-Malayan region, the genus is widely distributed in the tropics of Asia to Africa and Australia. Curcuma species exhibit inter- and intra-specific variation for the biologically active principles coupled with morphological variation with respect to the above-ground vegetative and floral characters as well as the below-ground rhizome features besides for curcumin, oleoresin and essential oil. Though there were about 100 species in the genus, some of the species are synonyms, and it is believed that there may be only about 80 true species (Sasikumar 2005). Though grown in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Pacific Island, East and West Africa, Malagasy, Caribbean Islands and Central America, India is the major producer and exporter of turmeric. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Maharashtra, etc. are the major turmeric-producing states in India.
5.1 Species Diversity
The genus Curcuma is mainly Indo-Malayan in distribution. Species diversity, morphotype diversity and varietal diversity are characteristic of this genus (Fig. 6) (Philip and Nair 1986; Geetha and Prabhakaran 1987; Nirmal Babu et al. 1993a; Sasikumar 2005).
Economically important species are given in Table 11. Though there are no taxonomically distinct varieties are established in C. longa, there are about 60 horticultural varieties or cultivars (Table 10) which are named after the place of origin in their respective areas of cultivation. Agronomic and qualitative differences are noted in their performance (Velayudhan et al. 1999a, b).
5.2 Cultivar Diversity
Cultivar diversity of cultivated turmeric is highest in India. In India, Southern India, Odisha and North East State are rich in varietal diversity. A good number of varieties also exist in other producing countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nepal, Myanmar, South Pacific Islands, Malagasy, etc. Cultivar diversity of turmeric in India is given in Table 12.
More than 70 turmeric cultivars are known to be under cultivation in India. Most of these cultivars go by local names derived mostly from the place of cultivation.
5.3 Conservation
Ex situ genebank of Curcuma was established at ICAR- IISR, Kozhikode, and at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Research (NBPGR), Regional Station, Thrissur, by conducting extensive surveys to the important turmeric-growing areas in the country. The turmeric conservatory of ICAR-IISR consists of 1358 accessions including 1336 cultivars, 16 accessions of related taxa besides 6 exotic collections – all maintained in large cement tubs. The NBPGR, Regional Station, Trissur, Kerala, is also maintaining about 650 accessions of turmeric. Curcuma germplasm maintained by various AICRP centres are listed in Table 13.
6 Biodiversity in Tree Spices
Tree spices are perennial tree species. Altogether 17 species are put under the group ‘tree spices’ (Table 14), of which most of them are grown in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Tanzania and Jamaica or occurring in the humid tropical forests of South East Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands and Tropical America (Krishnamoorthy et al. 1997). Nutmeg, clove and cinnamon, kokum and tamarind are the important tree spices grown in India. Allspice is another tree spice introduced to India recently but less popular. Garcinia is mainly grown in the South West region of India.
6.1 Nutmeg
Nutmeg is indigenous to the Moluccas islands in Indonesia, introduced to India during the eighteenth century by the British East India Company. Nutmeg (Myristicafragrans Houtt, family Myristicaceae.) is an important tree spice, yielding two spices, namely, the nutmeg (dried seed) and the mace (dried aril surrounding the seed).
6.1.1 Species Diversity
The family Myristicaceae has about 18 genera and 300 species. The members of the family are pantropical, being associated with the rainforests of Asia, Africa, Madagascar, South America and Polynesia. India has 4 genera, namely, Horsfieldia, Gymnacranthera, Knema and Myristica, and altogether 15 species. The members occur in the evergreen forests of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Meghalaya and the Western Ghats (Fig. 7).
The Myristica swamps are dominated by members of Myristicaceae. Myristica swamp is a special type of habitat. These swamps are found in the valleys of Shendurney, Kulathupuzha and Anchal forest ranges in the southern Western Ghats. Myristica swamps are also reported in Uttara Kannada district of central Western Ghats in Karnataka. These swamps are isolated and situated in localities from near sea level to about 450 m altitude. The northernmost swamp known is associated with a sacred grove in the Satari Taluk of Goa.
The Western Ghats have three genera and five species of Myristicaceae; all of them are trees associated with evergreen to semievergreen forests. Of these Gymnacranthera canarica and Myristica fatua var. magnifica are exclusive to the swamps. M. malabarica is occasional in the swamps and more frequent in the evergreen forests. M. malabarica often produce stilt roots and flying buttresses, even though it is seldom associated with swamps, indicating its possible origin in the swamps. Myristicaceae was the most dominant family of the swamps forming 32% of the total number of trees.
6.1.2 Cultivar Diversity
Nutmeg produces two distinctly different spices, namely, nutmeg and mace. Nutmeg is the dried kernel of the seed and mace the dried aril surrounding the seed. Nutmeg, mace, their oleoresins and essential oils are used in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. Nutmeg is typically dioecious, with male and female flowers on different trees. Occasionally, male trees carrying a few female flowers are observed. However monoecious plants have been recently reported from the Uttarakannada and Shimoga districts of Karnataka (Rema et al. 2014). Wide variability is observed in tree shape, fruit shape, fruit size, colour quality and yield (Krishnamoorthy and Rema 1994). Variability is also observed in nut number per fruit. Trees with two, three and four nuts are observed in nutmeg. The aril of nutmeg is red in colour, but variability has also been observed in this character, and nutmeg with yellow aril has been reported from Kerala (Fig. 8). Unique mutants with kernelless nutmeg are also observed in the primary genepool of the tree (Sasikumar et al. 2017). Aarthi et al. (2015) studied the floral diversity in monoecious type nutmeg, which revealed three types of flowers, namely, staminate, pistillate and hermaphrodite flowers. All the three types of flowers are borne on the leaf axil as both in cymes and solitary in the same tree. In the population studied, the occurrence of hermaphrodite flower in monoecious tree ranged from 0% to 10%.
Sixty-five nutmeg germplasm accessions conserved at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research were evaluated for chemical composition of nutmeg and mace, and high variability was observed among the accessions. The essential oil content ranged from 3.9% to 16.5% in nutmeg and 6% to 26.1% in mace. Myristicin content ranged from 1.1% to 45.6% in nutmeg oil and 0.21% to 36.6% in mace oil; the elemicin content ranged from 1.0% to 29.7% in nutmeg oil and 1.0% to 30.2% in mace oil. Safrole content ranged from 0.1% to 22.1% in essential oil and 0.2% to 21.8% in mace oil (Maya et al. 2004). Accessions with high oil yield in nut and mace, high butter content, high oleoresin in nut and mace, high myristicin and elemicin, low myristicin and elemicin, etc. have been identified from the germplasm available at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode.
6.1.3 Conservation of Germplasm
The germplasm collections of nutmeg are conserved at various research stations in their germplasm repositories. At ICAR-IISR, 484 accessions of nutmeg are conserved. The important species conserved at ICAR-IISR include M. fragrans, M. fatua var. magnifica, M. malabarica, M. beddomei, M. andamanica, M. attenuata, M. prainii, M. amygdalina, Gymnacranthera canarica and Knema andamanica. The unique types conserved include a tree bearing 1–4 seeds per fruit, an endangered species, M. fatua var. magnifica, nutmeg with bold nut and mace, nutmeg with high sabinene, yellow aril type nutmeg, monecious nutmeg and few elite lines. Germplasm of nutmeg is also conserved at NBPGR, Regional Station, Trissur, Kerala; Horticultural Research Station, Pechiparai (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University); and College of Agriculture, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Maharashtra.
‘IISR-Viswashree’ and IISR-Keralasree are high-yielding nutmeg varieties released from the ICAR-IISR. IISR-Keralasree is the first improved variety released through a farmer participatory breeding approach. Konkan Sugandha, Konkan Swad and Konkan Shrimanti are the nutmeg varieties released from Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli.
6.2 Cinnamon
Cinnamon and cassia, two of the oldest known spices, once used for embalming are now valuable spices. Cinnamon represents the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum verum of the family Lauraceae.
6.2.1 Species Diversity
Hooker (1886) reported 26 species from Indian subcontinent and adjoining areas. Gamble (1925) described 11 species of Cinnamomum from South India. Kostermans (1983) described 13 species mainly from Western Ghats region (Fig. 9). The genetic diversity of Cinnamomum occurring in South India is Cinnamomum filipedicallatum Kosterm, C. goanse Kosterm, C. macrocarpum Hook, C. malabatrum (Burmat) BI., C. nicolsonianum Manilal & Shylaga, C. perottetti Meisson, C. riparium Gamble, C. keralense Kosterm, C. travancorium Gamble, C. verum Brecht & Presl, C. wightii Meisson, C. sulphuratum Nees, C. heynianum Nees, C. gracile Hook f., C. chemungianum Mohan & Henry and C. walaiwarense Kosterm (Ravindran 1999).
Cinnamon is indigenous to Sri Lanka and occurs rarely in the Western Ghats, and this region can be considered as the secondary centre of origin of the species.
The existences of the wild population of cinnamon are really threatened due to the indiscriminate, illegal bark extraction from them. Species like C. macrocarpum, C. riparium and C. nicolsonianum are also considered to be endangered.
Economically important Cinnamomum species are given in Table 15.
6.2.2 Cultivar Diversity
High coefficient of variation for dry bark yield/ plant, bark oleoresin, leaf oil, leaf size index and percentage of bark recovery was reported in cinnamon cultivars (Krishnamoorthy et al. 2007). Association analysis for nine characters in cinnamon revealed significant correlation of fresh weight of bark and leaf oil with dry bark yield. Bark oil was negatively correlated with leaf oil (Krishnamoorthy et al. 1992).
Presently there are seven improved varieties developed from various institutes in India: IISR Navashree, IISR Nithyashree (ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode), YCD-1 (Horticulture Research Station, Yercaud, Tamil Nadu), PPI (C) 1 (Horticultural Research Institute, Pechiparai, Tamil Nadu), Konkan Tej (Dr. B.S. Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Maharashtra), RRL (B) C-6 (Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar, Odisha) and Sugandhini (Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Research Station, Odakkali, Ernakulam-DT, Kerala).
6.2.3 Conservation
The ex situ genebank of ICAR-IISR comprises of 373 accessions of cultivars, 34 accessions of wild relatives and 1 exotic collection totalling 408 accessions. Evaluation and selection based on high-quality bark and oil have led to the release of two varieties, viz. Nithyashree and Navashree (Krishnamoorthy et al. 1996), from ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode. A few accessions are also conserved at the Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud, Tamil Nadu (11) and Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Maharashtra (17).
6.3 Biodiversity in Garcinia
The genus Garcinia is distributed in the tropics of the Old World, chiefly Asia, with approximately 200 species. Nearly 30 species are cultivated (Hammer 2001). In India 36 species occur. Malaysia and Africa with large number of endemic species appear to be the two main centres of development of the genus Garcinia. Eleven species occur in the southern Western Ghats, out of which six species are endemic. Malabar tamarind is found wild in evergreen or semievergreen forests of Western Ghats in south Maharashtra extending southwards to Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Abraham et al. 2006). Kokum (Garcinia indica Choisy) and camboge (Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robsmall) are the major spice-yielding species under the genus Garcinia of the family Clusiaceae. Gamble (1925) reported 12 sp. from the Western Ghats. Among the 17 species reported to exist in India, 7 are endemic to Western Ghats, 6 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and 4 in North East India (Rodrigues 2001). Kokum, camboge and mangosteen (G. mangostana L.) are the three Garcinia species cultivated in India where the latter is a fruit crop.
Kokum is a spice with great medicinal value grown in the western coast in semiwild state. It is a dioecious tree that attains a pyramidal shape on maturity. Kokum originated from the Western Ghats and grows extensively in the Konkan region of the West Coast, evergreen forests of Assam, Khasi hills, etc. The dried rind of fruit is the traditional kokum or ‘binda’ of commerce used for garnishing curries. The major value-added products obtained from kokum are squash (amrut kokum), syrup, kokum powder, concentrates, pigments, etc. It is also reported to be a good source for making wine. Another product is kokum butter. About 15 lakh trees are reported to exist in Konkan region with a production of about 8900 t (Mathew and Sarma 2002).
Camboge (G. gummi-gutta) commonly called as ‘Malabar tamarind’ is found in evergreen or semievergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1800 m in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and also in the Shola forests of Tamil Nadu (Abraham et al. 1998). Ridges of the fruit are the useful part of camboge.
Camboge fruit has excellent therapeutic value, and the dried rind is a popular spice used in cookery.
6.3.1 Species Diversity
Important Garcinia species occurring in India are listed in Table 16.
At present the institute germplasm conservatory holds 64 accessions with 34 cultivated accessions besides 28 accessions of related taxa. The important accessions conserved are G. gummi-gutta, G. indica, G. mangostana, G. hombroniana and G. xanthochymus and three unidentified species.
7 Conclusion
Good amount of variability of spices are collected, conserved and being utilized besides registering the unique accessions. Trait-specific collection and conservation of cultivated diversity of spices are still relevant. There are many hinterland areas in the country where explorations are not carried out, and future collections from these areas need to be given stress. Similarly large estates where black pepper, cardamom, etc. are grown as intercrops of other plantation crops are also a good source of cultivar variability. Both primary and secondary genepools of the spices need to be conserved and characterized for effective utilization in crop improvement programme besides exploring the direct popularization of relevant unique accessions.
Introduction of exotic accessions also assumes relevant in this context.
At the same time, quarantine caution must also be exercised while introducing the germplasm from abroad and even from islands to main land in the country.
References
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Acknowledgement
The authors express their sincere thanks to the Chief Principal Conservator of Kerala Forest Department for giving permission to collect samples from the forests of Kerala. We also thank Mr. A. Sudhakaran, Technical Officer, IISR, Kozhikode, for preparing the photographs.
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Saji, K.V., Sasikumar, B., Rema, J., Aravind, S., Nirmal Babu, K. (2019). Spices Genetic Resources: Diversity, Distribution and Conservation. In: Rajasekharan, P., Rao, V. (eds) Conservation and Utilization of Horticultural Genetic Resources. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3669-0_9
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