In vitro Regeneration and Estimation of Curcumin Content in Four Species of Curcuma

Abstract

Four species of Curcuma, C. longa, C. amada, C. aromatica and C. zedoaria were collected from different parts of West Bengal, India and propagated in our experimental garden. In vitro regeneration of C. longa and C. aromatica was carried out from nodal explants and that of C. zedoaria from rhizome explants. Shoots were successfully regenerated from both nodes and rhizomes in C. amada. Plants regenerated in vitro produced rhizomes when planted in pots containing sterile soil. Curcumin contents in rhizomes of these plants were determined by spectrophotometric analysis. All accessions of C. longa uniformly showed a high curcumin content, while C. amada and C. zedoaria did not. A novel accession of C. aromatica (accession number v₁₀) was found to contain curcumin even higher than that of C. longa, suggesting it to be useful as an alternative source of curcumin.