Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry

The focus area of department isIntegrative taxonomy, Structural genomics, Genetic engineering, RNA interference, Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry.

Research Activities

Natural products

• Authentication of herbal drugs
• Standardization of herbal drugs and formulations
• Marker compound analysis
• In vitro and in vivo efficacy of herbal drugs and extracts and formulations

Plant Biotechnology

• Design and development of protocols for micropropagation, shoot regeneration, root regeneration, callus culture and cell suspension culture
• Genetic engineering for production of heterologous proteins
• DNA barcoding and molecular markers for quality assessment
• RNA interference for trait improvement

Animal Biotechnology

• RNA interference has been used in cancer therapeuticsto downregulate overexpressing oncogenes mediating cancer angiogenesis, apoptosis and metastasis.

List of some medicinal plants investigated

• Adhatoda vasica
• Holarrhena antidysenterica
• Bacopa monnieri
• Nicotiana tabacum
• Balanitis roxburghii
• Phyllanthus amarus
• Boerhaavia diffusa
• Polyalthia longifolia
• Catharanthus roseus
• Saraca asoca
• Cassia senna
• Sida cordifolia
• Clerodendrum inerme
• Terminalia alata
• Convolvulus microphyllus
• Terminalia arjuna
• Evolvulus alsinoides
• Terminalia bellerica
• Terminalia chebula
• Vitex negundo

Industrial Services

• Identification and authentication of plant/plant material.
• Macroscopic andmicroscopic examination of herbal drugs and polyherbal formulations.
• Development of quantitative standards viz. extractive values, ash values, fixed oil content, loss on drying.
• Development of phytochemical profiles (fingerprint) using HPTLC,/HPLC/GC/GLC depending upon the nature of the sample.
• Isolation of marker compounds and estimation/quantification using various techniques.
• Microbial load testing
• Authentication of herbal raw material using DNA fingerprint profile (molecular markers).
• Development of tissue cultures of medicinally and economically important plants and consultation.
• Library of reference standards

Academic Services

• Dissertation
• Hand-on-Training – Workshop and Tailor-made programme