THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The mystery of the disappearing endangered woody climber, ‘maramanjal’, had puzzled scientists for decades. The population of the woody vine was getting depleted year after year with not too much of a regeneration even in the forests of the Western Ghats.In a rare example of plant conservation and after three decades of continuous observation, the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode, near here, has come up with an answer. They have also standardised the methods for seed germination, which in future should result in a drastic improvement in plant regeneration.The scientists started off on the project by bringing in plants from the few locales where it was still available. This was nearly 30 years ago. The plants maintained in the garden was used for studies by the team led by P J Mathew and C Anilkumar.While scientists working in the area of reproductive biology studied the chances of pollen sterility and incompatibility, those in the plant genetic resource division studied the natural regeneration process and the seed scientists checked out possibilities of seed sterility of the woody plant which takes around 15 years to attain the reproductive maturity. The scientific team observed that natural regeneration of the species took place in the garden through seeds present in the castings of bats, which eat the mature fruits of maramanjal.“When the fruit moves through the gut of the bat, the pulp around the seed is removed and this helps in germination. This finding points out that regeneration was not at all hindered in its habitat, provided, plants that are mature enough to reproduce are available in the forest,” said P J Mathew.Unfortunately, the mature stem of the plant being an ingredient of at least 62 Ayurvedic formulations, the plant scientifically called ‘Coscinium Fenestratum’ was being overexploited in the forests, the collectors cutting the vine right down from the base. The yellow-coloured stem contains the bioactive principle, berberine, which has antiseptic properties and the stem is used in a number of medicines to cure eye diseases.Attempting artificial regeneration, the seed bank group of the JNTBGRI experimented on how to overcome the inherent dormancy of the seeds. The studies found that the seeds with around 23 per cent moisture content had only less than 40 per cent germination.“If the bats did not eat the seeds, it would germinate in the next dry season. So we tweaked around with the moisture content of the seeds, drying it up to several levels and found that bringing down the seed-moisture content resulted in as much as 90 per cent germination,” said Mathew and Anilkumar. Their experience with germination of pepper also stood them in good stead.The conservation of the living collection of the species at JNTBGRI is what ensured the steady supply of seeds for the seed-bank team to work on. 30 years of waiting has become fruitful and now, the institute has started supplying seedlings to the public for nominal cost, for growing in their home yards.
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