Glory Lily Case Study

Introduction

Gloriosa superba L.

Gloriosa superba L. have great importance in recent years for horticultural and medicinal purposes.It is commonly known as vachhnag, Kalihari. Glory lily belongs to family Liliaceae is a valuable tropical medicinal plant (Kapai et. al., 2010). It is a perennial, semi woody, tuberous climber, reaching approximately 5 meters in height (Hassan and Roy, 2005). Almost all parts of it find divert medicinal usage (Kapoor, 2001). It has been a well-known plant in Indian Ayurveda and pharmacological industries (Asolkaret. al., 1992). The tuber is used traditionally for the treatment of bruises and sprains, colic, chronic ulcers, haemorrhoids, cancer, and leprosy and also for inducing labour pains. It is also used in

Commonly known as Mal-kangani belongs to family Celastraceae is a climber used in Ayurvedic medicine in India (Sharma et. al., 2010). Seeds of this plant are the source of an Ayurvedic drug Jyothismati used in treating rheumatism, gout and neurological disorder. C. paniculatus is well known for its ability to improve memory (Nadkarni, 1976). Pharmacological studies suggest that the oil obtained from the seeds possess sedative and anticonvulsant properties (Gatinode et. al., 1957) and increased the intelligence quotient of mentally retarded children (Nalini et. al., 1986). The seed oil is useful for treating abdominal disorders, beriberi and sores. Leaf sap is an emmenaogue and antidote for opium poisoning (Warrier et al., 1994). Bark is reported to be abortifacient, depurative and a brain tonic and taken internally for snake bite (Govil, 1993). Root-bark extract also shows antimalarial activity (Rastogi and Mehrotra, 1998). The powdered root is considered useful for the treatment of cancerous tumours (Parotta, 2001). Chemical constituents of seeds as revealed by phytochemical analysis were sesquiterpene alkaloids like celapagine, celapanigine and celapanine (CSIR, 1992).The conventional method of propagation of this medicinallyimportant plant is through seeds. Poor seedviability and germination (11.5℅) restricts the use ofseeds in multiplication (Rekhaet al., 2005). Indiscriminate over exploitation from natural source to meet thegrowing demand by pharmaceutical industry coupled withlow seed viability, lack of vegetative propagation methods and insufficient attempts for replenishment of wild stockof this medicinally important plant species have contributedto its threatened status. So realizing the threat ofextinction and to meet the growing need of pharmaceuticalindustry, a mass multiplication protocol may be help in conserve this valuable medicinal plant (Lal and Singh,