2017, Vol. 5, Issue 1, Part A

author(s)
Anupam Guha, Sutapa Datta and Debanjali Bhattacharjee

abstract
Coccinia indica Wight and Arn. Commonly used as leafy vegetable in Tripura, North East India. Young leaves and fruits are used as vegetable in different forms of recipes of tribal and rural communities of this region. The cucurbit also widely used for its ethnomedicinal properties among them. The utility of the vegetable as good source of protein and total amino acids with low level of phenolics and sugar clearly indicated its significance as useful health diet and alternative food supplement to the common people. The somatic chromosome number and karyomorphological details were also investigated in these dioecious forms. Somatic chromosome number was found to be 2n=24 with karyotype formula A₂B₂₀C_X1D_Y1 and A₂B₂₀C_X2 in male and female sex forms. Diploid males are heterogametic with 22+XY and females are homogametic with 22+XX. The somatic chromosomes are generally short with median and submedian constrictions except the metacentric X and Y chromosome. X chromosomes are larger than other chromosome complements in both the sex forms and Y chromosome is conspicuously large. The chromosome count and constancy of the karyotype with biochemical analysis recorded in the present study.