SPIKED ZINGER LILY (HEDYCHIUM SPICATUM) : IDENTIFICATION OF SUPERIOR GENOTYPES FROM INDIAN HIMALAYAN REGION 2 K.S. NEGI, S.S. KORANGA, S.N. OJHA, M.M. PANDEY , A.K.S. RAWAT , A.P. RAINA AND A. RAYAL National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Bhowali-263 132, Niglat, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. *E-mail: ksnegi1960@gmail.com 1 1 Spiked Zinger Lily was found to contain 0.06-6.12% essential oil alongwith chemical constituent 1,8 cineole (8.22 -58.15 %) in Indian Himalayan region. Spiked Zinger Lily, a perennial rhizomatous herb, belongs to family Zingiberaceae, commonly known as 'Kapur-kachari' widely available in moist, damp-shady evergreen forests and popular in traditional systems with several ethnobotanical notes. For identification of superior genotypes, a total of 34 accessions were collected from Indian Himalayan Region along with passport information. Rhizomes of all accessions were chopped, dried and subjected to Clevenger Hydro-distillation unit for essential oil extraction and observed 0.06-6.12% oil yield. In addition to this 1, 8 cineole (8.22 -58.15 %) was observed as a major constituent of the essential oils on Gas Chromatography (GC). Essential oil content and major chemical constituent 1, 8 cineole, both the parameters revealed an increasing trend along an altitudinal gradient of 1400-2875 m amsl. Key words : Hedychium spicatum, Indian Himalayan Region, Essential oil, 1, 8 cineole, Superior genotypes, Altitudinal gradient. Introduction known for their edible flowers (He, 2000). Hedychium is also a genus of horticultural importance; the Spiked Zinger Lily (Hedychium spicatum Buch.- inflorescence is aromatic and showy, resembling a cluster Ham. ex J.E. Smith) a genus of Zingiberaceae, found of butterflies consuming nectar (Gao et al., 2008). In abundantly in the forest lands of Uttarakhand. It is a Ayurveda, H. spicatum has been advocated for the native herb of South-East Asian countries and known as treatment of diarrhoea, piles, bronchial asthma, semen 'Van-haldu', 'Siura', 'Bagaldu, 'Kachoor', 'Kapur-kachari', disorders (Sharma, 1996), skin diseases and stomach 'Kapur-kachali' and 'Gandh sathi' in local parlance. In ailments (Chopra et al., 1956). Initial biological screening Greek, Hedychium (hedys, sweet; chion, snow) refers to of the 50 per cent ethanolic extract of the powdered the fragrant white flowers. World-wide, it has 50 species rhizomes reported to have anti-inflammatory and central reported from Madagascar, South-West China, Nepal nervous system (CNS) depressant activity (Dhar et and Indo-Malaysia, whereas, 35 species are available al.,1973). from the hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Arunanchal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India. It is widely Study area available in moist, damp-shady and evergreen forests of A study was undertaken during September 2008 to oak-rhododendron and oak-deodar at an altitude of December 2011 to explore and collect different 1,000 to 3,000 m amsl (Gupta, 1968; Negi, 2001) genotypes of Hedychium spicatum. By and large 34 It is perennial rhizomatous herb; the rhizomes are accessions of spiked zinger lily were collected from 11 bitter in taste and possess strong aromatic and camphor- districts of Uttarakhand (Central Himalayan Region), 4 like odour, therefore, widely used as an insect repellant districts of Himachal Pradesh (North-West Himalayan and tobacco perfume (Anon., 1959; Gaur, 1999). It is Region) and East Khasi Hills, Shillong (North-East popular in traditional systems with several Himalaya), from altitudinal range of 1400-2875 m amsl ethnobotanical notes and called 'Kapura-Kachri' in with passport information as per NBPGR Passport Data folklore, Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) and trade Format. The live planting material was introduced/ (Tewari et al., 2008; Saraswathi et al., 2009). acclimatized in field gene bank/herbal garden of NBPGR, Regional Station, Bhowali, at an altitude of 1600 m amsl. In addition, Hedychium species are being cultivated for their valuable essences (Negi, 2001; Negi et Material and Methods al., 1998). The aerial stems constitute a useful raw The collected rhizomes from different material for manufacturing paper and some species are geographical areas were washed properly, chopped, 1 National Botanical Research Institute (IBRI-CSIR), Lucknow, 226 001, Uttar Pradesh, India. 2 National Bureau of Plant genetic Resources (NBPGR, ICAR), Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012, India. Indian Forester, 140 (4) : 363-367, 2014 http://www.indianforester.co.in ISSN No. 0019-4816 (Print) ISSN No. 2321-094X (Online)