RESUMO
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc., Zingiberaceae), a cultivated annual herbaceous plant is one of the most important spices consumed in the world with many medicinal properties. It is an income-generating plant for its production. This study aims to document endogenous knowledge on speculation as well as an agro-morphological characterization in order to make it better known and to reveal its potential to the whole world. The ethnobotanical data obtained by a semi-structured survey conducted from a questionnaire in six (06) municipalities in southern Benin made it possible to determine the local taxonomy of Ginger, the cultural practices and the different uses of the species. Ginger has been introduced in Benin for decades and in all the area study. The local names for the species as well as its uses, vary according to locality. As for the agro-morphological characterization, a complete random block device composed of five sub-plots was used. The experimental data allowed us to obtain three classes with all the accessions collected. Ginger cultivation is widespread in the study area with production on a small area. The cultivation techniques adopted do not follow any defined technical itinerary and the production tools are often rudimentary. The cultivation of ginger is therefore limited despite its multiple medicinal and economic potential. The institutions in charge of agriculture do not have data concerning the cultivation of ginger in southern Benin.
RESUMO
The main objective of this study is to investigate the patterns of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships within populations of Detarium microcarpum (Fabaceae) relative to different spatial conditions. Seventy-eight (78) accessions of D. microcarpum belonging to six populations (Phytogeographic districts) were sampled. In order to have very good quality DNA for molecular analysis, an optimization of the DNA isolation protocol was made. The molecular analysis of the accessions was carried out using 7 chloroplast microsatellite markers. The polymorphism rate (P) is 85.71% and the Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) was in the range of 0.43 (Ntcp_9) to 0.73 (Ccmp_2) with an average of 0.59. Allelic richness (A) ranged from 1.41 to 2.85 with an average of 2.04. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.23 to 0.60 with an average of 0.39. The expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.43 to 0.60 with a mean of 0.50. Wright's fixation index (FIS) ranged from -0.17 to 0.47. The effective allele (Ae) is between 1.77 and 2.53 with an average of 2.02. Wright differentiation index (FST) was 0.024. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the NST value was significantly higher than the GST value (NST = 0.452; GST = 0.190; p <0.05). A relatively low hd haplotype diversity is obtained (Hd = 0.320). AMOVA analysis showed that 17.35% of the variation existed within populations but 45.80% among populations within the species. Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic tree of D. microcarpum revealed three non-distinct clusters haplotypes showing the existence of gene flow between populations of the species. Our findings of genetic structure and gene flow of D. microcarpum populations based on different spatial conditions is caused by evolutionary forces such as scattering and pollination.