Browsing by Author "Chakraborty, Rakhi"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Morphological and Anatomical Studies on Some Members of Araceae of North Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Karmakar, Biswanath; Chakraborty, Rakhi; Roy, Swarnendu
present study aimed to characterize eight edible members of the family Araceae on the basis of their morphological and anatomical characteristics. The petiole length, leaf size, and corm size varied widely across the studied members. Significant variations in the stomatal index, stomatal length, and width were observed, although all were of paracytic type with elliptical to circular shapes. Leaf epidermal cells were found to be polygonal or puzzle shaped. Mesophyll cells were non-distinguishable as palisade or spongy parenchyma. The root vascular bundles were found to be exarch, either arranged circularly or remaining scattered in the ground tissue. Pith was also observed, either large, centrally located, or scattered. Petiole anatomy showed scattered vascular bundles with collateral xylem and phloem in almost all the species, except Ol Kochu, Panchmukhi Kochu, and Ghot Kochu. Presence of tannins was observed in the petioles of all the species, whereas calcium oxalate crystals in the form of raphides were found to be present in some members. Water vessels, either large or small were found in the petioles of all the species. The number of parenchyma cells varied from 2 to 6 depending on the species. All the morphological and anatomical characteristics would help identify the eight members of Araceae and provide information for future studies with them.
Open Access
Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of the Seeds of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. – An Underutilized Legume of West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Firdousi, Sabnam; Chakraborty, Rakhi; Roy, Swarnendu
The Exploration of the underutilized crops for nutritional benefits is one of the major strategies to feed the ever-increasing population. There are many nutritionally rich leguminous crops (Vigna unguiculata, Cassia hirsuta, Canavalia ensiformis, Dolichos biflorus, etc.) that have remained unexplored for a long time, though could provide a cheap and alternative food source. The present study was conducted to assess the nutritional and antioxidant properties of the seeds of an underutilized legume Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. The methanolic seed extract showed concentration-dependent radical scavenging activities against DPPH, ABTS, NO, OH and FRAP. The seed extract also showed the presence of nutritional and antioxidative phytochemicals viz. alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenolics, flavonoids, ascorbic acid etc. The presence of a considerably high amount of protein and a low amount of total sugar can also be regarded as beneficial for regular consumption. Moreover, HPLC-MS analysis also revealed the presence of several phenolic derivatives (gallic acid, pyrogallol, chlorogenic acid, catechol etc.) that might also contribute to the antioxidative property of the seeds. Further research on the isolation, purification and characterization of the antioxidative phytocompounds would help decipher their mechanism of action as well as increase the sustainable utilization of the nutritionally rich legume crop.