ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res.

9(08), 710-715

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Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/13319

DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/13319

RESEARCH ARTICLE
A STUDY ON CORRELATION AND ASSOCIATION OF CHARACTERS OF EXACUM TETRAGONUM
ROXB. IN NORTH KERALA, INDIA

K.S. Veena1, V.V. Radhakrishnan1 and K.V. Mohanan2

1. Genetics and Plant Breeding Division, Department of Botany, University of Calicut, Kerala - 673 635, India.
2. Gregor Mendel Foundation, Calicut University (PO), Kerala - 673 635, India.
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Manuscript Info Abstract
……………………. ………………………………………………………………
Manuscript History Western Ghats provide asylum to several endemic plants. Exacum
Received: 25 June 2021 tetragonum Roxb. is one of the important endemic herbs inhabiting the
Final Accepted: 28 July 2021 hilly tracts and midlands of Kerala, the state of India located towards
Published: August 2021 the south-western side of the Western Ghats. The plant is used for
treating fever, stomach disorders, gout, diabetics, and eye diseases. It
Key words:-
Exacum Tetragonum, Interrelationship, is also found associated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-
Association, Correlation, Variability, helminthic and anti-hyperglycemic activities. Correlation and
Drastic Changes association of characters of this important medicinal plant was analyzed
based on the observations on thirteen salient morphological characters
recorded from twenty three populations of the species distributed across
Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Palakkad Districts of Kerala
State of India. All the characters studied such as plant height, number
of leaves, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf length,
leaf breadth, peduncle length, pedicel length, internodal length, leaf
area, mean stem girth, number of branches and fresh weight of plants
showed statistically significant variations between the populations.
Number of flowers showed significant positive correlation with the
maximum number of characters (ten characters) whereas number of
leaves showed significant positive correlation with the minimum
number of characters (two characters). By factor analysis, two factors
could be extracted and fresh weight of plant was found to be the lead
character. Significant variability with regard to morphological
characters indicates the strong genetic base of the plant species in the
field. However, drastic changes in its habitat for various reasons can
certainly cause severe threats to its continued existence and hence
appropriate actions to conserve the natural habitats of this species are
vital.

Copy Right, IJAR, 2021,. All rights reserved.

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Introduction:-
Exacum tetragonum is a herbaceous medicinal plant with bicoloured petals and it comes under the family
Gentianaceae. Its natural habitat is tropical moist grassy forests. The species is widespread in Indomalesia and
reaches the extreme north of Australia (Yuan et al., 2005). About three to four decades ago, the plant was seen
abundantly in different parts of Kerala. The plant is not amenable to propagation in gardens. The plant is known as
kannanthali in Malayalam and Persian blue violet in English (Sreelatha et al., 2007). It is regarded as a promising

Corresponding Author:- K.S. Veena 710

Address:- Genetics and Plant Breeding Division, Department of Botany, University of Calicut,
Kerala - 673 635, India.
ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 9(08), 710-715

anti-oxidant, thrombolytic and anti-inflammatory agent (Ashwini et al., 2015). It contains various phytochemicals
such as phenols, saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids. Naga people have been using Exacum tetragonum against
malaria fever since long (Rao, 1983). The plant is used as an antidiabetic herb in Kerala (Sreelatha et al., 2007). In
Khao Kho District of Thailand the species is considered as a valuable medicinal herb (Chuakul, 2000). Roots of
Exacum tetragonum contain a colouring matter and hence it is used in alcoholic drinks in Germany and Switzerland
(Torfida, 1944). Whole plant is used as tonic and stomachic by Ambalabe rural community (Vinayaka et al., 2016).
Decoction of leaves and bark of Exacum tetragonum is used by Angami Nagas for curing malarial fever (Rao,
1983). It is widely used for curing human ailments like diabetes, malaria, skin disorders, fungal diseases and
inflammation (Marles and Farnsworth, 1995).

The species is seen limited to small pocket areas even in vast stretches of grassland. This unique feature
accompanied by the drastic social changes has subjected the plant to the threat of extinction (Sreelatha et al., 2007).
The forest ecosystems of Western Ghats are under severe threat due to a variety of reasons. Understanding the
genetics and interrelationship of the quantitative characters of such plants is an important step towards developing
strategies for conservation. Hence the present study has been carried out to analyze the correlation and association of
characters of Exacum tetragonum based on thirteen morphological characters (Table 1).

Materials and Methods:-

Twenty three natural populations of the plant were located at different parts of Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode
and Palakkad Districts of Kerala State of India during August-November 2018. The populations were frequently
visited to assess their growth and when the plants matured and flowered, twelve plants were collected at random
from each population so as to represent intrapopulational variability appropriately. The collected plants were
observed for thirteen quantitative morphological characters. Correlation of these characters was analyzed as
suggested by Rangaswami (1995). Study of association of characters was carried out to group the characters based
on their relationship and also to find out the lead characters in each group. Study of character association of Exacum
tatragonum was carried out using principal component analysis with the help of the statistical software
STATISTICA.

Results and Discussion:-

Most of the growth and yield characters of plants are polygenic in nature. Polygenic systems are complex systems
in which alleles located at different loci contribute towards the expression of other related characters also. Hence
different levels of interrelationships can be observed between polygenic quantitative characters. The extent of this
relationship can be analyzed using correlation analysis. In the present study, plant height showed significant
positive correlation with number of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, internodal length, mean
stem girth and fresh weight of plants; number of leaves showed significant positive correlation with leaf length and
number of branches; number of flowers showed significant positive correlation with plant height, number of
inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth, number of
branches and fresh weight of plants; number of inflorescences showed significant positive correlation with number
of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, internodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth and fresh
weight of plants; leaf length showed significant positive correlation with plant height, number of flowers, number of
inflorescences, leaf breadth, internodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth and fresh weight of plants; leaf breadth
showed significant positive correlation with number of leaves, leaf length, leaf area and number of branches;
peduncle length showed significant positive correlation with plant height, number of flowers, number of
inflorescences, pedicel length, internodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight of plants; pedicel length showed
significant positive correlation with plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, peduncle length,
internodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight of plants; internodal length showed significant positive
correlation with plant height, number of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, leaf area and fresh
weight of plants; mean stem girth showed significant positive correlation with plant height, number of flowers,
number of inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, leaf area and fresh weight of plants; leaf area
showed significant positive correlation with number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf length, leaf breadth,
internodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight of plants; number of branches showed significant positive
correlation with number of leaves, number of flowers and leaf breadth; fresh weight of plants showed significant
positive correlation with plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length,
pedicel length, internodal length, leaf area and mean stem girth (Tables 2 and 3). Number of flowers showed
significant positive correlation with the maximum number of characters (ten characters) whereas number of leaves

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showed significant positive correlation with the minimum number of characters (two characters). Characters having
interrelationship with the maximum number of characters show high level of gene sharing. Analysis of such
interrelationships has been already carried out in other economically important plant species by earlier workers like
Sankaran et al. (1994) and Priya et al. (2012).

Factor analysis of thirteen morphological characters of Exacum tetragonum has been studied based on UPGMA
method using STATISTICA software. Two factors were extracted from the data based on the relative contribution
of the variable towards the variability of the species. Based on factor loading, plant height, number of flowers,
numbers of inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, internodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth
and fresh weight were grouped under factor 1 and number of leaves, leaf breadth and number of branches under
factor 2 (Tables 4, 5 and 6).

It can be assumed that there is a sharing of common alleles between plant height, number of flowers, numbers of
inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length, intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth and fresh
weight come under factor 1 and there is a sharing of common alleles between number of leaves, leaf breadth and
number of branches under factor 2. In factor 1, fresh weight can be considered the lead character since it shows the
maximum factor loading.

Grouping of variables can be used as a tool in selection programmes in future when commercialization of medicinal
plant production may necessitate development of improved strains. Factor analysis has been used to group variables
in different plants like rubber (Abraham et al., 2002), cardamom (Radhakrishnan et al., 2004) and chillies (Hrideek
et al., 2006). Though considerably high field level variability is present in the plant species under study, steps
should be taken to conserve its natural habitats from anthropogenic destruction and to augment its genetic base.

Table 1:- Growth and yield characters of Exacum tetragonum studied.

Sl. No. Character Mean ± SE CD (5%) CV (%)
1 Plant height (cm) 52.89±3.23 9.25 30.99
2 Number of leaves 21.63±1.61 5.31 24.64
3 Number of flowers 24.66±3.07 9.09 41.36
4 Number of inflorescences 4.96±0.55 1.69 39.52
5 Leaf length (cm) 5.83±0.27 0.78 19.90
6 Leaf breadth (cm) 1.45±0.08 0.20 11.72
7 Peduncle length (cm) 3.02±0.27 0.69 32.45
8 Pedicel length (cm) 1.15±0.13 0.33 27.83
9 Internodal length (cm) 4.50±0.21 0.65 25.56
10 Mean stem girth (cm) 1.51±0.08 0.27 16.67
11 Leaf area (cm2) 748.90±62.99 188.04 23.89
12 Number of branches 1.61±0.04 0.27 39.75
13 Fresh weight (g) 18.62±1.83 5.41 44.58

Table 2:- Exacum tetragonum - Correlation of characters.

Pla Numb Numb Numb Lea Leaf Pedu Pedi Intern Mean Lea Numbe Fres
nt er of er of er of f brea ncle cel odal stem f r of h
heig leaves flower inflore len dth lengt lengt lengt girth are branch wei
ht s s gth h h h a es ght
cences
Plant 1
height
Number 0.2 1
of leaves 814
77
Number 0.5 - 1
of 354 0.106
flowers 45* 96
Number 0.3 - 0.8374 1

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of 330 0.186 02*

infloresc 11 88
ences
Leaf 0.3 - 0.6291 0.6607 1
length 555 0.028 34* 51*
8* 61
Leaf 0.2 0.407 0.0545 0.1815 0.4 1
breadth 257 299* 91 34 879
17 63*
Peduncle 0.7 0.078 0.6830 0.4630 0.2 - 1
length 146 778 15* 54* 675 0.01
09* 29 948
Pedicel 0.5 0.206 0.5757 0.4779 0.1 0.15 0.839 1
length 982 163 55* 43* 793 654 155*
64* 42 2
Internod 0.8 0.277 0.3553 0.2651 0.3 0.32 0.613 0.60 1
al length 557 335 8* 53 843 297 53* 8787
57* 82* 8 *
Mean 0.5 0.208 0.7857 0.6206 0.4 0.21 0.596 0.68 0.347 1
stem 438 993 84* 17* 805 902 579* 6809 386
girth 45* 24* 8 *
Leaf 0.3 0.069 0.6248 0.6741 0.9 0.65 0.278 0.26 0.355 0.528 1
area 183 076 53* 56* 488 065 076 0057 828* 862*
17 53* 4*
Number - 0.722 - - - 0.42 - - - - 0.0 1
of 0.2 18* 0.3625 0.2481 0.1 319 0.324 0.12 0.186 0.013 188
branches 568 8* 3 257 5* 41 482 06 44 22
5 5
Fresh 0.6 0.176 0.8135 0.6543 0.6 0.23 0.640 0.56 0.566 0.811 0.6 - 1
weight 843 275 38* 13* 289 835 205* 1966 55* 468* 171 0.1264
1* 43* * 79* 9

Table 3:- Exacum tetragonum – Correlation of characters – Characters correlated.

Characters Characters showing significant positive correlation
Plant height Number of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length,
intermodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight
Number of leaves Leaf length and number of branches
Number of flowers Plant height, number of inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length,
pedicel length, intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth, number
of branches and fresh weight
Number of inflorescences Number of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel length,
intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth and fresh weight
Leaf length Plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf
breadth, intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth and fresh weight
Leaf breadth Number of leaves, leaf length, leaf area and number of branches
Peduncle length Plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, pedicel
length, intermodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight
Pedicel length Plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, peduncle
length, intermodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight
Internodal length Plant height, number of flowers, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel
length, leaf area and fresh weight
Mean stem girth Plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf
length, peduncle length, pedicel length, leaf area and fresh weight
Leaf area Number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf length, leaf
breadth, intermodal length, mean stem girth and fresh weight

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Number of branches Number of leaves, number of flowers and leaf breadth

Fresh weight Plant height, number of flowers, number of inflorescences, leaf length,
peduncle length, pedicel length, intermodal length, leaf area and mean
stem girth.

Table 4:- Factor analysis of thirteen characters of Exacum tetragonum- Eigen values.
Factor Eigen value % of total Cumulative Cumulative % of total variance
variance Eigen value
1 6.275553 48.27348 6.27555 48.27348
2 2.277164 17.51665 8.55272 65.79013

Table 5:-Factor analysis of thirteen characters of Exacum tetragonum- Factor Loadings.

Characters Factor I Factor II
Plant height 0.763739 -0.002627
Number of leaves 0.138896 -0.799330
Number of flowers 0.875020 0.285939
Number of inflorescences 0.765469 0.193441
Leaf length 0.717046 -0.160003
Leaf breadth 0.354235 -0.750765
Peduncle length 0.772273 0.268638
Pedicel length 0.738038 0.071851
Internodal length 0.685310 -0.108963
Mean stem girth 0.825392 -0.044414
Leaf area 0.732455 -0.301032
Number of branches -0.213148 -0.864652
Fresh weight 0.898763 -0.019508

Table 6:- Factor analysis – Characters associated with factors.

Factor Variables
1 Plant height, number of flowers, number of
inflorescences, leaf length, peduncle length, pedicel
length, intermodal length, leaf area, mean stem girth,
fresh weight
2 Number of leaves, leaf breadth, number of branches

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