Colchicine Content in Induced Mutants of Glory Lily (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., T8P2, T10P1, T10P4, T7P3, T9P4 were 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.