~ 1 ~ Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 2022; 10(5): 01-03 ISSN (E): 2320-3862 ISSN (P): 2394-0530 www.plantsjournal.com JMPS 2022; 10(5): 01-03 © 2022 JMPS Received: 02-05-2022 Accepted: 03-06-2022 Dr. Vinit Vaidya Department of Botany, Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Vedaant Bhandary Department of Botany, Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Faisal Qureshi Department of Botany, Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Hetvi Darbar Department of Botany, Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Corresponding Author: Vedaant Bhandary Department of Botany, Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Mycorrhiza! A potential natural booster to the phytoconstituent (β -asarone) of Acorus calamus Dr. Vinit Vaidya, Vedaant Bhandary, Faisal Qureshi and Hetvi Darbar DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/plants.2022.v10.i5a.1457 Abstract Acorus calamus commonly called Vekhand or Sweet flag is an aromatic plant belonging to family Acoraceae. It has many useful phytoconstituents used for various ailments like fever, constipation, etc. One of them is β-asarone which is a volatile oil present in upmost amount in the rhizome of Acorus which has many pharmacological effects like neuroprotective, analgesic, anti-depression, anti-cancer etc. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have shown evidence that it can enhance the phytoconstituents quantitively without having side effects on the plants. Our article tries to suggest whether mycorrhiza can play a vital role on the phytoconstituent (β-asarone) of Acorus calamus. Keywords: Acorus calamus, β-asarone, mycorrhiza 1. Introduction Systematic Position Division- Spermatophyta Class- Monocotyledonae Orde- Acorales Family- Acoraceae Genus- Acorus Species- Calamus Acorus calamus is a perennial plant native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and is indigenous to the marshes of the mountains of India. In India, it is mostly found in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu etc. [1] . It is a hairless herb that is up to 2 metres in length and mainly used parts are leaves, and a creeping rhizome. Leaves are bright green in colour having wavy margins and thickening in the middle. Rhizome (Root) is pale yellow to pinkish brown in colour with large leaf scars on it. Both leaves and rhizome have been used in Ayurveda for the treatment of various skin diseases and also as anti-diabetic, anti-pyretic etc. [2] . These contain a range of phytoconstituents such as β-asarone, α-asarone, monoterpenoids, tannins, saponins, sugars such as fructose and glucose, methylisoeugenol, flavonoids etc. [3] . 1. β-asarone β-asarone is a volatile oil present abundantly in the leaves and the dried rhizome of the Acorus plant. It is a yellow-coloured liquid with a boiling point of around 260-270 ⁰C with various pharmacological properties like anti-cancer, anti-fungal etc. 1.1 Anti-cancer [4] β-asarone oil was tested on the human glioblastoma U251 cells, a type of malignant brain tumor. Glioblastoma is characterized by rapid growth, increased formation of blood vessels and the test carried showed that the cells treated by β-asarone underwent apoptotic and necrotic death. This concluded that β-asarone can act as an anti-cancer agent.