Chemical and molecular fingerprinting of different cultivars of Pelargonium graveolens (L' Herit.) viz., Reunion, Bourbon and Egyptian

Abstract

The present study was carried out to compare three elite cultivars of Pelargonium graveolens viz., Reunion, Bourbon and Egyptian on the basis of chemical and molecular fingerprinting. The germplasm collection of Kelkar Education Trust's Scientific Research Centre has identified a Geraniol rich variety called Reunion which is suitable for commercial cultivation in the plateau region of Maharashtra. Attempts were made to differentiate Reunion cultivar from the other varieties like Bourbon and Egyptian. For this study 6 plants of each cultivar viz., Reunion, Bourbon and Egyptian were randomly selected. Essential oil was extracted using Hydrodistillation method. Chemical fingerprinting was done using GC analysis. Chemically the essential oil of each cultivar showed different composition, among which essential oil of Reunion cultivar was found to have most desirable rosy aroma. For molecular fingerprinting RAPD method was used. Out of 20 primers from Kit OPB, 6 primers were more informative for molecular screening of the three cultivars. Molecular studies revealed the difference among all the three cultivars at genetic level. Thus the three cultivars of P. graveolens viz., Reunion, Bourbon and Egyptian were effectively differentiated using chemical and molecular fingerprinting. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.