Morphological, chemical and molecular characterization of Centella asiatica germplasms for commercial cultivation in the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Centella asiatica germplasm collected from north, north-eastern and southern parts of India was compared for biomass and centellosides productivity under uniform agro-climatic conditions of the Indo-Gangetic plains at Lucknow. The highest biomass accumulation (411.9 g FW/m2 area) was recorded in accession A from north India, followed by 284.0, 135.7 and 29.2 g FW/m2 in accessions M, B and E from southern, eastern and north-eastern regions, respectively. Accession M possessed the highest asiaticoside content (52.1 mg/gDW) that was 1.58, 2.34 and 21.7 folds more than accessions A, B and E, respectively. The madecassoside level in leaves of accessions B and M was comparable (28.9 and 25.7 mg/gDW) and two folds more than accession A (13.9 mg/gDW). The madecassic and asiatic acid content in leaf tissue of all four accessions remained low in Lucknow. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis with 23 primers yielded 696 fragments, 563 of which were polymorphic. Accession M out-grouped with genetic dissimilarity indices of 83, 85 and 95% from accessions A, E and B, respectively. Commercial cultivation of accessions M and A through a four months growth cycle (June to September) in agro-climatic conditions of the Indo-Gangetic plains is suggested.