Use of stability statistics in the selection of Clausena heptaphylla (Roxb.) Wight & Arn for novel anethole rich strain (Jor Lab CH-2)

Mohan Lal; Sunita Munda; Anindita Gogoi; Twahira Begum; Joyashree Baruah; Sanjoy K Chanda; Himangshu Lekhak

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1060492

Use of stability statistics in the selection of Clausena heptaphylla (Roxb.) Wight & Arn for novel anethole rich strain (Jor Lab CH-2)

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Dec 14:13:1060492. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1060492. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mohan Lal¹, Sunita Munda¹, Anindita Gogoi¹, Twahira Begum¹, Joyashree Baruah¹, Sanjoy K Chanda¹, Himangshu Lekhak¹

Affiliation

¹ Agrotechnology and Rural Development (ARD) Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, India.

Abstract

Introduction: Anethole is an industrially important compound which is extensively used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, perfumery, food and confectioneries. Anethole is primarily obtained from fennel, anise, and star anise which is highly expensive. Therefore, a study was performed to identify a cost-effective and natural anethole rich strain of Clausena heptaphylla through selection and confirmed through multilocation trial.

Methods: The study was conducted using 23 accessions collected from North eastern region of India from 2014-2018 (initial evaluation trial) and 2018-2022 (multilocation trial). The initial trial was conducted in the experimental farm of CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat, Assam using Complete Randomized Block Design with three replications. Five agronomical traits (plant height, leaf length, leaf width, number of stem branching, herbage yield per plant per cutting) along with essential oil yield and anethole content were evaluated which led to the identification of anethole rich strain of C. heptaphylla. This identified strain was further evaluated along with the two check genotypes for stability based on three yield parameters viz. herbage yield, essential oil yield and anethole content at four multi-locations (Imphal, Jorhat, Runne and Madang) for four years using the same experimental design.

Results and discussion: The identified superior line (Jor Lab CH-2) showed consistent performance for the studied yield parameters across all the environments maintaining its superiority. The identified strain exhibited average herbage yield of 1.2 Kg/plant/cutting and essential oil yield of 1.22%. The GC-MS analysis of the essential oil depicted trans anethole as the major constituent (93.25%) followed by estragole (4.85%) while benzene, 1,2-dimethoxy-4-(1-propenyl Isoeugenol methyl ether and cis-anethole were the trace components. This is the first novel report of anethole rich variant of C. heptaphylla which has undergone multilocational trial over the years. Jor Lab CH-2 strain will open a new scope for the industries to isolate anethole from a different source in a cost-effective approach.

Keywords: GC/MS; multilocation trial; selection breeding; stability; superior strain.