Effect of Mutagens on Alkaloid Content in Gloriosa superba L.

An investigation was carried out to induce mutants in Gloriosa superba L. possessing high value alkaloid viz., colchicine and colchicoside, used in the treatment of gout, rheumatism and cancer. VM₂ generation was raised from EMS, DES and gamma ray treated VM₁ tubers of Glory lily. The mutants had apparent morphological changes in plant height, number of leaves and flowers as well yield characters. Five high yielding mutants viz., T₈ T₁₀T₇T₉were ^P2, ^T10^P1, ^P4, ^P3, ^P4 subjected to colchicine estimation using High Performance Liquid Chromotagrapy. These promising mutants seemed to possess high colchicine content, than the control. The maximum colchicine content of 0.707 per cent was observed in 2.00 per cent EMS (T₇P₃), followed by 0.702 per cent in 1.00 per cent DES (T₈P₂). The obtained results implicate that physical and chemical mutagens contribute to variations in alkaloid content.