S. Muthulakshmi and V. Pandiyarajan
Catharanthus roseus (L). G. Don is an important anticancerous plant belonging to the family Apocynaceae. It contains so many alkaloids like Vinblastine and vincristine are mainly present in aerial parts of C. roseus, which are used in treatment of various human cancers, so it is considered as mile stone in cancer chemotherapy. Vincristine is also used to cure cancer including acute leukemia, Hodgkin's and non- Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, Wilms' tumor, multiple myeloma, chronic leukemias, thyroid cancer, brain tumors and blood disorders. In our study the effect of BRs on vincristine content of Catharanthus roseus was quantified. BRswas applied as foliar spray at different concentrations viz 5, 10, 15, and 20 ppm for 30days regularly. The vincristine content was quantified by HPLC method. The vincristine content was found to increase at all the concentration when compared to the control. The maximum concentration of vincristine was found to be around 15 and 20 ppm of BRs. Hence it is concluded that regular application of BRs to Catharanthus roseus can be recommended for attaining better biomass production and vincristine content.
