Isolation of Somaclonal Variants for Morphological and Biochemical Traits in Curcuma longa (Turmeric)

Abstract

Five types of somaclonal variants were isolated through callus phase of vegetativebud among the 105 regenerants, based on the morphological traits at the culture conditions.The variants showing higher values of the metric traits than the regenerants and control withregard to morphological parameters in the first generation were selected for furtherevaluation in the second generation (V2). The variants isolated based on the morphologicaltraits were subjected to biochemical analysis such as curcumin, oleoresin and volatile oilcontents and compared with the normal regenerants and the control plant. Significantly highcurcumin, oleoresin and volatile oil contents (%) were observed in somaclonal variants whencompared to the normal regenerants and also control plant. Somaclonal variation in turmericis a new prospective for the genetic improvement of turmeric varieties.