Dinesh Kumar

• PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Senior Researcher at Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology

Ferula assa-foetida L., a herbaceous perennial plant usually found in temperate regions, exhibits persistent dormancy when grown under ambient conditions. To address this, the present study investigated the role of endogenous and exogenous hormones in the germination of F. assa-foetida L. and its wild relative F. jaeschkeana Vatke. Comparative endo...

Polygonatum verticillatum (L.) All. is a perennial herb commonly known as whorled solomons seal belonging to the Asparagaceae family and has a long history of uses in folklore and Indian and Chinese systems of medicine. The P. verticillatum is categorised under Astavarga group of drugs. It is widespread in Europe, China, Pakistan, and the Western H...

Palmarosa is an important aromatic perennial grass mainly cultivated for its high-value geraniol-rich essential oil. The growing global demand for palmarosa essential oil and the limited availability of suitable cultivars in the North-Western Himalayan region highlight the need of superior planting material crucial for its production. Hence, the pr...

Balanced plant nutrition and optimal micro-climate are critical for achieving higher production sustainably. Substituting mineral fertilizers with organic amendments under water-conserving strategies like mulch can enhance the quality and yield and improve soil health. Therefore, a two-year study was conducted to examine the synergistic effects of...

The current study was focused to assess the impact of geographical distribution (1325-3200 m, asl) on essential oil yield, chemical composition, and biological activities of Juniperus communis leaves. Soil mineral content was also analyzed to understand their impact on chemical composition. EO yield variation wereobserved (0.22-0.48%), with highest...

The current study was focused to assess the impact of geographical distribution (1325-3200 m, asl) on essential oil yield, chemical composition, and biological activities of Juniperus communis leaves. Soil mineral content was also analyzed to understand their impact on chemical composition. EO yield variation were observed (0.22-0.48%), with highes...

Elicitors trigger complex signaling cascades within plants, enhancing secondary metabolite production. The present study investigated the impact of various elicitors on the augmentation of picrosides (P-I, P-II, P-III) and their precursors (vanillic acid, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, catalpol, and aucubin) metabolites in Picrorhiza kurroa cell susp...

Inula racemosa is an important medicinal herb lacking in superior and stable varieties for cultivation in the varied climates of the Western Himalayas. In the present experiment, genotypic effects and environment interaction among ten newly developed selections were explored to identify superior and stable genotypes under different environments of...

Rhynchostylis retusa (L.) Blume belongs to the Vanda alliance of the Orchidaceae family and is mostly distributed from 300-1,500 m. It is traditionally practiced for the treatment of health issues such as dysentery, pain, inflammation, arthritis, and, skin, respiratory, heart, kidney, brain, and menstrual problems. R. retusa is also used in folklor...

This research leads to the analysis of quality parameters and chemical profiles of Artemisia maritima essential oils (EOs) extracted from four different wild areas viz : Darcha, Jispa, Gemur and Tandi of Lahaul valley of Indian western Himalaya in comparison to a market sample. The EOs content was found higher in Darcha (0.54 %) and Jispa (0.48 %)....

Rhynchostylis retusa (L.) Blume, commonly known as the Foxtail orchid, has garnered worldwide attention for its diverse medicinal properties. In this study, root extract and its fractions were evaluated for total polyphenols, flavonoids, targeted polyphenols, and antioxidant potential. The antimicrobial activity was assessed against Gram-positive a...

Purpose: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a perennial herb, widely used as a natural sweetener around the globe. The key compounds responsible for its sweetness includes stevioside and rebaudioside-A. In order to improve these steviol glycosides, the present study was initiated to study the effect of induced mutagenesis on growth parameters, steviol g...

Ferula assa-foetida L. is a high-value spice and medicinal herb. It is used as a common condiment in Indian cuisines and essential part of traditional medicine in Ayurveda and Unani system from pre-historic times. It has been used in the drug industry due to its distinctive phytochemistry and pharmacological activity. Besides, this plant has a high...

This work described a comprehensive study to estimate chemical constituents of essential oils (EOs) extracted from different parts of the Callistemon citrinus viz: fruits, leaves and aerial part. The EOs were characterized using physicochemical parameters, and GC‐FID/MS. It was observed that among different parts, aerial part has the highest oil yi...

Ophiocordyceps is a species-rich genus in the order Hypocreales (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota) depicting a fascinating relationship between microbes and insects. In the present study, a new species, Ophiocordyceps indica sp. nov., is discovered infecting lepidopteran larvae from tree line locations (2,202–2,653 m AMSL) of the Kullu District, Himacha...

Introduction Saussurea costus, an important critically endangered medicinal herb native to the Himalayan region, is commonly used in various ailments, viz. asthma, ulcer, inflammation, and stomach problems. In the international market, the dry roots and essential oil of S. costus has become an important drug. The lack of appropriate fertilizer dose...

Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) is a high-value aromatic plant species belonging to the family Rosaceae. It is being cultivated throughout the world for rose essential oil production. Besides its higher demand in the aromatic and cosmetic industry, the essential oil obtained has many pharmacological and cytotoxic activities. The primary concern...

Indiscriminate collection of Arnebia benthamii roots from wild for extraction of red pigments by traders prompted to put this Himalayan plant species under critically endangered category. Concerning the development of sustainable phytoconstituents sources, the present study is aimed at understanding the factors crucial for the scalability of A. ben...

Pogostemon cablin (patchouli) is one of the most prized medicinal herbs cultivated worldwide. However, with changes in the bioclimatic patterns and nematode infections in its root, the availability of quality planting material for essential oil extraction has become a challenging task in recent times. In the present research, a synergistic effort b...

Background: Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Syn. Melaleuca citrina belongs to the Myrtaceae family , is a plant that is extensively grown in tropical and subtropical areas. 'Callistemon' popularly known as "Anther beauty", is an evergreen, woody, aromatic shrub with other names like Red bottle-brush or Lemon bottle-brush because of resemblance of its...

Panax ginseng Meyer is one of Asia’s most popular medicinal plants, with triterpene saponins as principal bioactive compounds. The present study investigates the possibility of ginseng cultivation in Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India in the Western Himalayas focusing on growth characteristics, and ginsenoside content in the roots. Plant growt...

Malaxis acuminata D. Don [= Crepidium acuminatum (D. Don) Szlach.] is one of the prized medicinal orchids with large-scale application in various nutraceutical and herbal preparations. However, due to paucity in the availability of plant materials, its usage is often restricted. In order to ensure continuous supply of raw material for the pharmaceu...

German chamomile is a highly valuable medicinal and aromatic herb lacking superior and stable varieties for varied environments in the western Himalayas. The study was conducted to estimate genotypic effects and their interaction with the environment under various conditions of Himachal Pradesh to identify superior and stable genotypes. For that, n...

German chamomile is a highly valuable medicinal and aromatic herb lacking superior and stable varieties for varied environments in the western Himalayas. The study was conducted to estimate genotypic effects and their interaction with the environment under various conditions of Himachal Pradesh to identify superior and stable genotypes. For that, n...

Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don (Melanthiaceae) is a medicinally important herbaceous plant and its rhizomes are claimed to have therapeutic effects in traditional health practices. In earlier reports, only rhizomes have been well explored for chemistry and efficacy, while aerial tissues are still underutilized. Due to overexploitation of T. go...

Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D.Don) Soo (Vern. Salam Panja) is a highly valued terrestrial dietary orchid from Himalaya, whose tubers are traded for possessing medicinal uses to human health benefits. The current research was focused on chemical exploration, along with evaluation of the nutritional and antioxidant potential, of its tuber extracts, which...

German chamomile is an important medicinal and aromatic herb known for its blue essential oil. It lacks studies on anthesis, breeding systems and floral development with their impact on the essential oil. Therefore, the study investigated floral development and divided it into six reproductive stages (RS-1 to RS-6). The first four stages (5–6 days...

Precursor feeding is a well-known strategy to enhance the commercial production of bioactive compounds in plant cell culture systems. For the first time, an effective in vitro platform was established for the enhanced production of phenylpropanoids with a precursor feeding approach in the cell suspension culture derived from friable leaf callus of...

Plant cell suspension culture is an alternative and perpetual source for large-scale metabolites production in significantly less time. However, this approach has not yet been executed in Picrorhiza kurroa for their specialized metabolites production. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop the suspension culture process from the rhizome and...

Precursor feeding is a potential strategy for increasing specialized metabolite production in plant cell culture systems. In the present study, cell suspension cultures were developed and subsequently evaluated for precursor feeding investigations. Cell suspension cultures were established in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.5 mg/L thid...

Background: Himalayan Viola species (Banksha) are traditionally important herbs with versatile therapeutic benefits such as antitussive, analgesic, antipyretic, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancerous ones. The current investigation was focused on exploring polyphenolic profiles, antioxidant, and antimicrobial potentials of wild viola s...

Picrorhiza kurroa is an industrially important Himalayan medicinal herb and is well known for its therapeutic potent picrosides compounds. The limited availability and medicinal usage of its rhizome commercially have initiated the searches for an alternative platform. Therefore, the present study developed a robust callus culture protocol from rhiz...

Metabolomics aims to profile the extensive array of metabolites that exists in different types of matrices using modern analytical techniques. These techniques help to separate, identify, and quantify the plethora of chemical compounds at various analytical platforms. Hence, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has emerged as an advanced analytical appr...

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of Artemisia maritima oils extracted from wild locations of North-Western Himalaya and commercially available Artemisia oil.

Background Therapeutic failure and drug resistance are common sequelae to insulin resistance associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Consequently, there is an unmet need of alternative strategies to overcome insulin resistance associated complications. Purpose To demonstrate whether Kutkin (KT), iridoid glycoside enriched fraction of Picr...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic auto-immune disease, is often result of persistent and misdirectional inflammation and cannot be effectually resolved by single-target selective drugs. Present study attempted to uncover anti-arthritic efficacy and governing molecular mechanism of BLFE and its phytoconstituents berberine and rutin, with focus on...

Camellia sinensis flowers are rich cradle of bioactive phytochemicals yet treated as waste biomass of the bush. However, flowers are used for the treatment of diverse health ailments since ages. Thus solvent free supercritical fluid extract of C. sinensis flowers was targeted to explore the phytochemical and bioactive potential. Parameters for the...

Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae) is a stemless herb produced in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Spain, Greece, and India. It is commonly known as saffron and used since historical times as an important crop of food and nutraceuticals and for its therapeutic importance. The main use of this plant comes from yellow-coloured dried stigmas having a bitter tast...

In vitro adventitious roots were induced from leaves of Valeriana jatamansi to assess their potential as a sustainable alternative to extract pharmaceutically important phytoconstituents. Among the different media used, a significantly (p ≤ 0.05) high root induction (90%) was achieved on Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) medium fortified with 9.84 µM ind...

The fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii (Luo Han Guo) is commercially consumed for its zero-calorie natural sweetener compounds known as mogrosides. The present work aimed to establish a cell culture platform from the fruit mesocarp and provide an alternative source for mogrosides production in S. grosvenorii. Bavistin at 1.0% with mercuric chloride at 0...

Palmarosa [Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) W. Watson] is an economically crucial aromatic grass species commercially cultivated for its essential oil. The essential oil has high demand in cosmetics, tobacco products, and perfumery industries. The present study investigates the inflorescence development of palmarosa into ten distinct stages. Light micro...

Camellia sinensis (tea) is an evergreen plant having bioactive compounds associated with various pharmacological effects, including anti-cancerous activity. These phytochemicals are variedly distributed in plant tissues. A detailed study to understand chemical composition within the economically underutilized tea tissues is required to generate val...

The antioxidant activity in tea is largely driven by its polyphenolic content, however, the antioxidant reaction mechanism and the compounds involved are not well characterized. Therefore, in this study, we performed in-depth profiling of the antioxidant reaction mechanism of Green Tea (GT), Black Tea (BT), and their polyphenolic fractions with fre...

Valeriana jatamansi Jones (Syn. V. wallichii DC.) is an aromatic, medicinal herb used as a tranquilizer and in treating sleep disorders. Rhizome is mainly used to extract essential oil (EO) and valepotriates. High quality and economic yield of rhizomes are available in the third year of growth. Therefore, the cultivation of V. jatamansi is not pick...

Two new steroidal saponins, named 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-22ξ-hydroxy-(25R)-furost-5-en-3β, 26-diol, 3-O-β [xylopyranosyl (1→3) α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2) β-D-glucopyranoside] (1) and 3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3) α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→3) β-D-glucopyranoside diosgenin (2), along with protobioside (3), diosgenin (4), β-sitosterol (5) and β-Sitosterol-...

Ethnopharmacological relevance Swertia purpurascens Wall belongs to a well-known genus in traditional systems of medicine worldwide. In folklore, it is used to treat various ailments, including hepatic disorders, as an alternative to the endangered species Swertia chirayita. However, the therapeutic potential of Swertia purpurascens Wall against he...

Low chilling varieties of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) introduced in lower altitude regions of Indian eastern, and western Himalaya were studied for their compositional and phytochemical attributes for the first time. Variety Fuji cultivated in the eastern Himalaya recorded the highest number of fruits plant⁻¹ (234), followed by Dorsett Golden (1...

Trillium govanianum rhizomes are traditionally consumed as a raw powder and decoction for the treatment of health complications. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate whether aqueous and alcoholic extracts of T. govanianum rhizomes under hot and cold extraction conditions have similar or dissimilar chemical, nutrient, and antioxidant profil...

Recording environmentally induced variations in the metabolome in plants can be a promising approach for understanding the complex patterns of metabolic regulation and their eco-physiological consequences. Here, we studied metabolome-wide changes and eco-physiological adjustments occurring across the year at high elevation environments in the leaf...

BACKGROUND Macrotyloma uniflorum (horsegram) is cultivated in the alpine Himalayas for its nutritional benefits. The chemical diversity of M. uniflorum has been explored by several research groups, but none has reported the chemical signature to monitor the identity and quality. To overcome quality control problems and provide more accurate chemoty...

The plant cell culture provides an efficient technique for growth and production kinetics studies of bioactive compounds present in plants. Therefore, the present study investigated, for the first time, to identify the specific culture days required for higher metabolite yield in Rhodiola imbricata. A transcript-level gene expression study was cond...

The Spike receptor binding domain (S-RBD) from SARS-CoV-2, a crucial protein for the entrance of the virus into target cells is known to cause infection by binding to a cell surface protein. Hence, reckoning therapeutics for the S-RBD of SARS-CoV-2 may address a significant way to target viral entry into the host cells. Herein, through in-silico ap...

Orchids are one of the most fascinating plant families amongst the flowering plants. Amongst the various orchid genus Cymbidiums figure out prominently. The present study focuses on the development of an efficient in vitro regeneration protocol for Cymbidium aloifolium, an epiphytic orchid with high commercial value. It also aims at analysing the i...

Polyphenolic and therapeutic insights of tea tissues (coarse leaves, flowers, and unripe fruits) extract (75% ethanol), and fractions (Ethyl acetate, n-butanol, residual water) were studied. The total polyphenol, flavonoid content was estimated (46.25 ± 1.2 - 907 ± 1.7 and 8.0 ± 0.1 - 54.0 ± 1.3 mg/g, respectively) with predominance in leaves follo...

Siraitia grosvenorii, an herbaceous perennial plant, native to the southern parts of China, is commonly used as a low-calorie natural sweetener. It contains cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides known as mogrosides. The extract from monk fruit is about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. In spite of its immense importance and International demand, Sir...

In vitro adventitious roots were induced from Valeriana jatamansi to assess their quality as an alternative ingredient for extraction of secondary metabolites to meet the demand of phytopharmaceutical industries. A significantly ( p ≤ 0.05 ) high root induction (90 %) was achieved on Schenk and Hildebrandt medium fortified with 9.84 µM indole-3-but...

In the present study, different elicitors, viz., polyethylene glycol (PEG), alginate (ALG), chitosan (CHI), salicylic acid (SA), and yeast extract (YE), were used in in vitro shoot cultures of Stevia rebaudiana for 4 wk to decipher their effect on growth, biomass yield, and accumulation of steviol glycosides (SG), especially rebaudiosides. The high...

The agroprocessing industries are producing a large volumes of waste biomass that contains valuable nutrients which if recycled properly could save millions of dollars. This is the case for the tea industry which produces large amounts of biomass from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Here, we review bioactive compounds from tea leaves, flowers and...

The rising demand for picrosides commercially and over-exploitation of Picrorhiza kurroa from natural habitat has to initiate alternative strategies for sustainable production of metabolites. In the present research, wild leaf explant of P. kurroa was used to produce friable callus under different culture condition, i.e., dark and light with two te...

The study is the first report on de novo transcriptome analysis of Nardostachys jatamansi, a critically endangered medicinal plant of alpine Himalayas. Illumina GAIIx sequencing of plants collected during end of vegetative growth (August) yielded 48,411 unigenes. 74.45% of these were annotated using UNIPROT. GO enrichment analysis, KEGG pathways an...

The use of new agricultural technologies such as soilless and aeroponic cultivation systems is a valuable approach to medicinal plant production. The present study investigated the prospects of enhancing yield and secondary metabolite production in Valeriana jatamansi under aeroponic cultivation using elicitors, such as yeast extract and methyl jas...

Although Berberis plant species have been advocated as immune modulators, information regarding their mechanism(s) of action is limited. Therefore, in the present study we assessed the efficacy of Berberis lycium Royle fruit extract (BLFE) in the attenuation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced oxi-inflammatory aggravation and concanavalin A (Con-A)...

Salidroside and rosavins have been found as the most potent ingredients used in Rhodiola based herbal formulations. Rhodiola imbricata is a medicinal herb of the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region of India. Since, the natural supply of this herb is rapidly decreasing, due to its over-exploitation, high altitude region, and traditional usage in the Amchi...

Global warming is currently one of the most serious issues in ecology. Rising CO2 level and temperature have begun to impact life cycles, distribution and yield of various plants yet, how medicinal plants will respond to changing environment is largely unknown. Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth. (Plantaginaceae) is a medicinal plant species that has...

Ethnopharmacological relevance Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. (Asteraceae; Purple Fleabane) has a long history of traditional use for the management of several disorders related to skin, central nervous system, kidney, gynecology, gastrointestinal, metabolism, and general health. The review aims to provide updated systematic information on ethn...

Introduction: Polygonatum is widely used as a part of food in different regions of the world which covers five main categories such as drinks, vegetables, snacks, staple and seasoning foods. Presently, no analytical method is available for the quality control of Polygonatum. Objective: Development and validation of a method using ultrahigh-perfo...

The rapid industrialization and insufficient waste disposal techniques are paving the way for heavy metals to enter into the environment. Lead is one of the major heavy metal pollutant and potential neurotoxin to human. The paddy straw waste is easily available material. It may act as a cost-effective and eco-friendly sink for heavy metal pollution...

Medicinal plants cultivation under hydroponic and aeroponic conditions offers an opportunity for quality biomass production on a commercial scale as per consumer demand. This study aims to cultivate first time medicinally important herb Picrorhiza kurroa for the production of quality biomass in the system. Plants were incubated under controlled con...

Crataegus products for food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical uses are available over the counter in the global market. The aerial parts are enriched with biochemicals and are used to treat cardiovascular, respiratory, and liver disorders and cancer. Detailed study to understand the chemical composition and different levels within medicinally import...

A fast, reliable and reproducible UHPLC-IMS method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of eight nucleosides (adenine, adenosine, cordycepin, guanosine, inosine, thymidine, thymine and uracil) in natural Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Present study was conducted to determine the marker nucleoside contents in low quantities using the...

Three homoisoflavanoids including a new 5,7–dihydroxy‐3‐(4‐methoxybenzyl)‐8‐methylchroman‐4‐one (1) together with the two known compounds 5,7–dihydroxy‐3‐(2‐hydroxy‐4‐methoxybenzyl)‐8‐methylchroman‐4‐one (2) and 5,7–dihydroxy‐3‐(2‐hydroxy‐4‐methoxybenzyl)‐chroman‐4‐one (3) were isolated from the rhizomes of Polygonatum verticillatum (P. verticillat...

Background A large number of populations depend on traditional practitioners, who in turn are dependent on medicinal plants, to meet their primary health care needs. Today "traditional medicine," characterized by the use of herbs and other natural products, still remains a regular component of health care in the world. Aims To explore the natural a...

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Ethnopharmacological relevance: Vernonia anthelmintica has been utilized conventionally as an ingredient in Ayurveda and traditional Uighur medicine for management of various skin ailments, and scientific data's have substantiated its use in treating vitiligo, dermatosis and leucoderma. The present investigation was focused to evaluate the antipso...

Crataegus rhipidophylla is utilized throughout the world for medicinal, cosmeceutical, food and nutritional purposes. Hence, a reliable analytical method for quality control is the need of hours. Therefore, a UPLC-DAD-MS based quality control method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of targeted polyphenols (protocatechuic acid,...

Sep Sci plus 2018, 1, 100–134 DOI: 10.1002/sscp.201700013 The cover picture shows a representation of the review article by Kumar and Sharma, published in this issue. Awareness about the quality of naturally derived products such as food, nutrients, cosmetics, and drugs has increased. In this regard, high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography is an...

Rumex species are traditionally known to cure constipation, pain, inflammation, ulcer and tumor. The biological potential of Rumex nepalensis lies in chemical diversity of its constituents. In the present study, UPLC-DAD-MS method was developed for the concurrent estimation of polyphenols in Rumex species (R. nepalensis, R. hastatus and R. dentatus...

Currently, delicious and essential items are intentionally diluted to gain higher profit in the market. Awareness about the quality of naturally derived products such as food, nutrients, cosmetics, and drugs has increased. An economical method for their quality assessment is needed. In this regard, high-performance thin-layer chromatography is an i...

Background Picrorhiza kurroa Royle (Scrophulariaceae) is an important medicinal herb being widely used in variety of ailments. Purpose The present study was envisaged to evaluate the effects of iridoid glycosides enriched fraction (IGs) from Picrorhiza kurroa rhizome against cyclophosphamide (CP) -induced renal toxicity and peripheral neuropathy....

Autoimmune destruction of insulin producing pancreatic β-cells leads to insulin insufficiency and hyperglycemia in type 1 diabetes mellitus. Regeneration of β-cells is one of the proposed treatment for type 1 diabetes and insulin insufficiency. Picrorhiza kurroa is a medicinal herb and is traditionally being used for the treatment of various diseas...