Padamnabhi S Nagar

• Ph.D
• Professor (Associate) at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Since the inception of satellite remote sensing as a technology, characterization of forests has been one of its major applications. Characterization of forests at community level is essential for conservation, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity. Recent advances in remote sensing offer opportunities to observe not only the refle...

Estimating above-ground biomass (AGB) using machine learning (ML) algorithms and multi-sensor satellite data is a promising approach for monitoring and managing forest resources. This research integrated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multispectral imagery alongside in-field observations to accurately estimate above-ground biomass (AGB) in the...

Thespis thakeri J.J.Sharma & Nagar, a new species from the Saputara hills of Gujarat, India, is described and illustrated. Thespis thakeri resembles T. tonkinensis Gagnep. and T. integrifolia Gagnep. but differs in habit, shape of leaves, capitula attachment, involucre bracts and pappus. Notes on the taxonomy and a key to all species of the genus T...

Since the inception of satellite remote sensing as a technology, characterization of forests has been one of the major application of it. Characterization of forests at Species level is essential for sustainable management of biodiversity. Recent advancements in remote sensing as a technology has enable us to observe not only the reflectance spectr...

In silico molecular docking is a well-established method for identifying novel pharmaceutical possibilities for a wide range of existing ailments. Among the computational approaches used to help the profitable drug development business, those based only on ligand structure are gaining popularity since they are quick and need few specifics for asses...

In silico molecular docking is a well-established method for identifying novel pharmaceutical possibilities for a wide range of existing ailments. Among the computational approaches used to help the profitable drug development business, those based only on ligand structure are gaining popularity since they are quick and need few specifics for asses...

Aims: To unravel the potential of Taverniera cuneifoliain transcriptomics Methods: RNA Seq experiment was conducted using NGS to understand the key metabolites and genes from Taverniera cuneifolia(Roth) Ali. Key results: 7.29 Gb of raw data and generated 5,59,91,233 raw reads. The high-quality reads were de novo assembled by Trinity assembler follo...

Leguminosae is the third most abundant family of angiosperm in the world, and have a distinct difference that serves to identify and differentiate closely related species. Among 650 genera and 18,000 species of legumes in India, Tephrosia is the most emerged genus, of which two endangered and narrow endemic species Tephrosia jamnagarensis Sant and...

Glycyrrhizin is a triterpene glycoside derived from Glycyrrhiza glabra and related species which is a renowned phytochemical used to cure a variety of ailments such as inflammation, sore throat, hepatitis etc. It is in huge demand owing to its various valuable properties. With the ever-increasing demand of glycyrrhizin, the search for alternative s...

Plants are the source of important drugs. Their secondary metabolite content is subject to environmental influences. Scientific evaluation of the chemical diversity of plants may be useful in exploring their medicinal as well as other uses. Still there are numerous medicinal plants for which no results either of ethnopharmacological uses or phytoch...

Novel Corona virus-2 (COVID-19) is spreading and causing major damage around the globe and constantly increasing daily. There is a prerequisite for expeditious development of safe and efficient drugs for such a contagious disease. In this regard, the utilization of a computational approach with an aim to provide potent enzyme inhibitors derived fro...

Pseudo-cereals are non-grass, wild plants whose seeds are used in the same manner as cereals, but are underutilized due to the dominance of conventional cereal crops. Pseudo-cereals have varied adaptability. They are climatically more resilient and nutritionally richer than major cereal crops. They are enriched with essential amino acids and their...

Ethnopharmacological relevance In India, Kumaryasava, a popular Aloe barbadensis Mill. gel preparation has therapeutic value in treatment of female reproductive disorders like menstrual disturbances and menopausal problems. Despite their widespread use, only a limited number of studies have probed into the scientific evidence for their varied bioac...

Taverniera cuneifolia has been described as a potent substitute of Licorice in India. It has been used as an expectorant, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, wound healing, blood purifier etc. Glycyrrhizin is one of the most useful bioactive sesquiterpenoid present in this plant. The present study aim to carry out transcriptome analysis in root tissue o...

The increasing spatial, spectral and temporal resolution of satellite images create a potential for producing accurate datasets on community level biodiversity and more widely, as an alternative to monitor individual species. This project is aimed to develop community level vegetation database for regional landscapes and describe vegetation charact...

A new species of Amaranthaceae, Alternanthera kanhae, is described and illustrated from the bank of Sabarmati estuary in the state of Gujarat of Peninsular India. The new species is closely allied with A. caracasana and A. pungens but differs in many attributes. The identity of the newly proposed species is confirmed by molecular analysis of three...

Forsskaolea viridis Ehrenb. ex Webb (Urticaceae), a species native to Africa and the Middle East, is reported here as an addition to the angiosperm flora of India from Gujarat. A detailed description, colour photographs, flowering and fruiting times, details on habitat, plant association and the distribution of the species are provided here.

Novel Corona virus-2 (Covid-19) is spreading and causing major damage around the globe and constantly increasing daily. There is a prerequisite of expeditious development of safe and efficient drugs for such a contagious disease. In this regard, utilization of a computational approach with an aim to provide potent enzyme inhibitors derived from nat...

This book gives an overview of Waghai Botanical Garden (WBG) and its resources, primarily the book deals thirty exclusive flowering trees of Waghai Botanical Garden with colourful plates their scientific name, local name, phenology, distribution and uses. These are endemic or indigenous trees, introduced in the garden from various region of India v...

p>Novel Corona virus-2 (Covid-19) is spreading and causing major damage around the globe and constantly increasing daily. There is a prerequisite of expeditious development of safe and efficient drugs for such a contagious disease. In this regard, utilization of a computational approach with an aim to provide potential enzyme inhibitors derived fro...

Influenza viruses are one of the main causes of respiratory tract diseases. There is a need to identify novel natural occurring antiviral molecules due to the startling emergence of resistance to anti-influenza drugs. Several hundred plants have been investigated as potential source of antiviral agents. Phytochemicals from these plants have exhibit...

A natural mutant of Butea monosperma with unifoliolate leaves has been reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat. The tree is more than 90 years old, growing at an agricultural land and consecrated by the villagers with a local deity.

The book gives an overview of Waghai Botanical Garden (WBG) and its resources, Primarily the book deals with the thirty exclusive flowering trees of Waghai Botanical Garden with colorful plates, their scientific name, local name, distribution, phenology and uses. These are endemic or indigenous trees, introduced in the garden from various region of...

DNA barcoding is currently gaining popularity due to its simplicity and high accuracy as compared to the complexity and subjective biases associated with morphology-based identification of taxa. The standard chloroplast DNA barcode for land plants is normally recommended by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) plant working group that need...

Endemic plants represent a small but important part of the flora of Gujarat; still they have not been assessed for their status till date. The present estimate is first of its kind that encompasses all Indian endemics found in Gujarat state that is based on literature review and field surveys. The present findings revealed documentation of 192 Indi...

Cleome hirta (Klotzsch) Oliv. (Cleomaceae), a species indigenous to tropical Africa is reported here as an addition to the angiospermic flora of Asia from Gujarat state, Western India. Detailed description, colour photographs, flowering and fruiting period, details on habitat, plant association and distrbution of the species are provided here.

The book deals with some of the most unique flowering trees of Gujarat. Most of the trees incorporated in this book are from wild however, there are some species introduced in gardens from rest of the country and from tropical countries. Thus the book includes number of trees not familiar to flower-lovers, it is hoped that it will ignite interest o...

The book deals with some of the most unique flowering trees of Gujarat. Most of the trees incorporated in this book are from wild however, there are some species introduced in gardens from rest of the country and from tropical countries. Thus the book includes number of trees not familiar to flower-lovers, it is hoped that it will ignite interest o...

Potent pollinators and ecological indicators, butterflies are important for estimating the general health of an ecosystem. Owing to the rich plant diversity (927 species), an arboretum in Vadodara, state of Gujarat, India was selected for surveying butterfly diversity. Our survey was conducted in all seasons for an entire year from October 2012 to...

Potent pollinators and ecological indicators, butterflies are important for estimating the general health of an ecosystem. Owing to the rich plant diversity (927 species), an arboretum in Vadodara, state of Gujarat, India was selected for surveying butterfly diversity. Our survey was conducted in all seasons for an entire year from October 2012 to...

Seeds of Radermarchera xylocarpa and Dolicandrone falcata were soaked overnight in water and germinated in different substrates. In both the plants, the highest percent of germination was recorded in cocopeat (Radermarchera xylocarpa:62%; Dolicandrone. falcata: 41%) followed by MS basal medium (Radermarchera xylocarpa: 46%; Dolicandrone falcata:20%...

Objective: This study assesses phytoconstituents of Calamus tenuis Roxb. (CT) and further studies its cytotoxic potential in two carcinoma cells lines. Method: Phytochemical extraction was done using hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol as extraction solvents. Cytotoxic potential was assessed via MTT assay against A549 and MCF-7 cell lines. Results:...

p> Oberonia mucronata (D.Don) Ormerod & Seidenf. is characterized by its dense flowered racemose inflorescence, petals with erose-toothed margin, and tri-lobed lip with dentate margin. A brief description and images are provided here for easy identification of the species along with a report of its new distribution record in Gujarat State. </div

The investigation was carried out to determine the possible chemical components of Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Ali. Roots using GC-MS analysis of ethyl acetate extract which led to identification of 26 compounds. Not much information is available on phytochemcial components of Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Ali. This is the first attempt to investig...

Plant oils from Ratanjyot (Jatropha curcas), Karanj (Pongamia pinnata), Neem (Azadirachta indica), and Mahua (Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia) etc. have been extracted and exploited as non-edible feedstock for the bio-diesel production in India. Our efforts have been converted to find area specific non-edible feedstock. With this point, Balanites...

Forests, world over, have degraded, fragmented, and depleted as human population has swelled. In the present study, the forest fragmentation and the disturbance regimes were assessed in south Gujarat using satellite image-based forest and land use mapping followed by landscape analysis using Spatial Landscape Modelling (SPLAM) software. The on-scre...

Ag, Cu metallic and bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) with diverse compositions were efficiently synthesized using the fruit latex of Achrassapota Linn. Spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetry results suggested that reduction of Ag was assisted by ascorbic acid, reducing sugars and other phenolic compounds present in the latex. However, the reduction of...

Olax nana Wall. ex Benth. has been rediscovered after a century from Kachchh district of Gujarat state. A brief description with photographs for easy identification and information about its phenology and habitat is provided here.

Aim of the present study was to investigate the dose dependent effect of Aloe vera gel [5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg of dry weight for 60 days each group] on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) rat model. Charles Foster adult female (200-225 g weight) rats were treated orally with letrozole (non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor) at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg body weigh...

Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Ali is commonly called as jethimadh (Licorice). High - Performance Thin - Layer Chromatographic analysis wa s carried out for the regional variation of different regions of India, seasonal variation and species variation. The root powder was extracted with Methanol and further analysis was performed. Quantitat ion of β...

Taverniera cuneifolia is an ethnobotanically important traditional medicinal plant of Semi-Arid region of India belonging to the family of Fabaceae. As the plant is ecologically identified as glycophyte the seeds were treated with various salts. Effect of various salts (KCl, MgCl2, NaCl, Na2CO3, MgSO4,) on the germination of T. cuneifolia seed was...

A multicarpellary ovary is a primitive feature among angiosperms and is rarely observed in the family Fabaceae. All species of Crotalaria have monocarpellary or unilocular ovaries, whereas the ovary of Crotalaria verrucosa deviates from this blueprint in that it has bicarpellary and tricarpellary apocarpous ovaries.

The paper presents a geospatial modelling approach for the assessment of plant richness in south Gujarat using a two-tier approach i.e., satellite image (Resourcesat-1) for vegetation type/land use mapping, landscape analysis, and the plant richness modelling on 1:50,000 scale. The study showed that nine vegetation types viz., teak mixed dry and mo...

Aloe vera has been used as a cosmetic and medical remedy since ancient times and has gained increasing popularity in recent years. Despite its widespread use, reports on biodiesel from Aloe vera seeds are lacking. The present investigation reports the fatty acid composition of Aloe vera seed oil (AVSO) and addresses the feasibility of using AVSO as...

Seed oil extracted from Opuntia elatior was analyzed for its physicochemical properties such as acid value, iodine value, saponification value, unsaponifiable matter and fatty acid composition. The assessment of fatty acid composition using gas liquid chromatography shows the presence of 15.65% saturated fatty acids and 84.35% unsaturated fatty aci...

Taverniera cuneifolia is an important traditional medicinal plant of India belonging to the family of Fabaceae. The roots of Taverniera cuneifolia is a potential substitute of Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice). In order to differentiate G. glabra from T. cuneifolia, macroscopic as well as microscopic studies of T.cunefolia were done. The present invest...

Introduction: Tephrosia collina var lanuginocarpa V.S. Sharma is an extremely rare, endangered plant species of western India. It is distributed in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Objective: The present study gives first insight of anatomical, pharmacognostical, histochemical, physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical analysis of the root, stem and leaf...

Cleome brachycarpa (Forssk.) Vahl ex DC. (Cleomaceae) has been reported as a new record for the flora of Saurashtra

Increasing demand of conventional source of fuel has made people to consider on alternative fuels that can substitute the present demand by some percentage. This paper presents the state of the art in this area by reviewing number of contributions from the all three disciplines i.e. Botany, Chemistry and Engineering are taken together to critically...

Introduction: Tephrosia jamnagarensis Sant. is a rare endemic species, restricted to the semiarid region of India.Methods: The present study gives insight into the anatomical, pharmacognosy, histochemical and preliminary phytochemical analysis of the root, stem and leaf of Tephrosia jamnagarensis. The analysis’s were done according to WHO norms. Re...

The present communication evaluates the physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical properties of Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth.) Arn. The roots of T. cuneifolia has been considered as a potential substitute of Glycyrrhiza glabra, popularly known as Indian Licorice. However, there is no detailed standardized work done so far. The results revealed t...

India is known for its biodiversity and its varied landscape. National biodiversity conservation and bio-prospecting of bio-resources has intimate relationship with food and environmental security of the country. Species level biodiversity conservation and exploration strategies need to be supported and undertaken with in the frame work of understa...

This study elucidates the process of synthesis of copper (Cu) nanorods using almond skin extract as stabilizing cum capping agent. These nanorods were (about 200 nm long and 40 nm wide) characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further, cytotoxicity potential of these nanorods was evaluated in A549 cells (Human lung carcinoma cell li...

The stem latex of a medicinally important plant, Euphorbia nivulia was successfully used to induce room temperature/microwave synthesis of silver and copper nanoparticles even at high concentrations. The major component of the latex, Euphol, is assumed to be the reducing moiety; while stabilization is assisted by certain peptides and terpenoids pre...

This is a preliminary study that explores the efficacy of Aloe vera gel formulation as a possible therapeutic agent in the prevention and management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is recognized as the most common endocrinopathy of women. Increased androgen synthesis, disrupted folliculogenesis, and insulin resistance lie at the patho-phy...

The seeds of Commiphora wightii (Arnott) Bhandari contain 9.8 ± 0.7% oil. The fatty acid composition and chemical properties of the extracted oil were determined. Gas liquid chromatography of the methyl esters of the fatty acids shows the presence of 46.62% saturated fatty acids and 51.40% unsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid composition is as f...

During recent botanical explorations of Saurashtra, Gujarat, India, the narrowly endemic plant spe-cies Tephrosia jamnagarensis was rediscovered after a lapse of 3 decades. A full description of the species is provided along with photographs; a key to closely related species is included.