ABSTRACT
The present investigation was carried out for a comparative volatile study and aroma profiling of Hedychium flavescens. The headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of flowers (HS-F) and rhizome (HS-R); GC-MS analysis of flower essential oil (EO-F), flower absolute (AB-F) and rhizome essential oil (EO-R) revealed 27, 19, 19, 15 and 12 compounds which constitute 96.22%, 96.93% 97.43%, 86.79% and 97.62% composition, respectively. The identification results demonstrated that flowers and rhizome were rich in ß-pinene, 1,8-cineol, linalool and E-ß-caryohyllene components. ß-Pinene was the most abundant component in HS-R (38.99%), EO-R (26.61%); linalool in HF-F (25.34%) and EO-F (25.99%) and ρ-vinyl-guaiacol in AB-F (32.19%), respectively. The aroma profile of H. flavescens was dominated with floral and jasmine (flowers); spicy, earthy and herbal (EO-F); floral and balsamic (AB-F); herbal, pungent, spicy and earthy (rhizome and EO-R) notes. Based on aroma profile, AB-F was evaluated as potential ingredient for perfume industry.
ABSTRACT
Siraitia grosvenorii, an herbaceous perennial plant, native to the southern parts of China, is commonly used as a low-calorie natural sweetener. It contains cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides known as mogrosides. The extract from monk fruit is about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. In spite of its immense importance and International demand, Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) is not commercially cultivated outside China since scientific information for cultivation of this species is lacking. Planting material of monk fruit plant was not available in India. Thus, the seeds of monk fruit were introduced in India from China after following International norms. Then the experiments were conducted on different aspects such as seed germination, morphological and anatomical characterization, phenology, flowering and pollination behaviors, and dynamic of mogroside-V accumulation in fruit. The hydropriming at 40 °C for 24 h was found effective to reduce the germination time and to increase the germination rate (77.33%). The multicellular uniseriate trichomes were observed in both the leaf surfaces, however, higher trichomes density was observed in the ventral surface of males compared to females. The microscopic view revealed that the ovary was trilocular (ovary consists three chambers) having two ovules in each chamber or locule. Most of the fruits were globose or oblong type with 5-7 cm in length and 4-7 cm diameter. Mogroside-V content in fruit at 80 days after pollination was 0.69% on dry weight basis. The rate of increase of mogroside-V accumulation from 50 to 70 days was very slow, whereas a sharp increase was observed from 70 to 80 days. The higher receptivity of stigma was observed with fully open flowers. The floral diagram and formula have also been developed for both male and female flowers. Our results highlighted that monk fruit can be grown in Indian conditions.
