Phytochemical and genetic analysis in selected chemotypes of Withania somnifera

Presence of active constituents (withanolides and withaferin A) from roots and leaves of Withania somnifera were analyzed by HPLC. The isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of IR, NMR and mass spectral data. Genetic analysis was carried out employing AFLP. Positive correlation of main components was obtained with the DNA markers employing Jaccard’s similarity coefficient. The present investigation throws a fresh perspective of using AFLP markers to designate specific chemotypes for breeding and therapeutic studies. The main active components and genetic profile of 15 selected accessions of Withania somnifera Dunal. were analysed. Ethanolic extract of the dried roots/leaves of the plant was concentrated under pressure at 50 ± 5 °C and was analysed for main compounds (withanolides and withaferin A) by HPLC. All the main components were found to be present in accessions (AGB 002, AGB 009, RSS 009, RSS 033). Correlation of these main components with their genetic factors, was undertaken using AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) markers. Among 64 primers 7 yielded optimum polymorphism. A total of 913 polymorphic peaks were generated using these primers. Jaccard’s similarity coefficient indicated that accessions having almost the same active compounds clustered together. The present study demonstrates that AFLP can be successfully used to resolve the correlation of AFLP data with the presence of secondary metabolites.