Review article
Biology, chemical diversity, agronomy, conservation and industrial importance of Valeriana jatamansi: A natural sedative

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Highlights

Abstract

Valeriana jatamansi Jones (Indian valerian) is an important temperate herb, which serves as a source of raw material for pharmaceutical and perfumery industries. This wild herb is nature’s gift to tribal communities for recovering various diseases. However, in India, this species is now at the verge of extinction due to over-exploitation of its rhizomes from its natural habitat to meet the burgeoning demand. Nowadays, the herb is considered highly valuable after identifying many bioactive compounds in its essential oil which can be extracted from different parts like leaf, root, and rhizome. However, accumulation of essential oil occurs in the underground part, which has demand in pharmaceutical as well as perfumery industries. This wild herb becomes one of the important medicinal and aromatic plants for researchers. For sustainable production and supply to the market/herbal industries, various efforts are made for its conservation, whereas agricultural practices hold a sole position to confront the sustainability challenge. Simultaneously, various researches on this herb are being conducted in regards to its agrotechnology. This article summarizes the botanical description including anatomy, genetic and chemical diversity, crop ecology for its commercial cultivation, uses and prospect in aromatic and pharmaceutical industries as per industrial demand and conservation point of view.

Introduction

Valeriana jatamansi Jones (Indian valerian) is a well-known temperate herb, which serves as a source of raw material for pharmaceutical and perfumery industries. It belongs to the family Valerianaceae (Rather et al., 2012) sometimes recognized as Caprifoliaceae (The Angiosperm Phylogeny (APG, 2009), exists in nature with about 40 genera (Hidalgo et al., 2004). The word ꞌValerianꞌ derived from word ꞌVeloꞌ meaning ꞌpowerful drugꞌ, was firstly quoted in the 9th century by an Indian physician. Although in Latin diction, ꞌValerianꞌ comes from word ꞌvalereꞌ which refers to have aromatic or clinical properties (Bhatt et al., 2012). The different species of genus ꞌValerianaꞌ are known for its diverse therapeutics roles in different regions of the world. It is evident from the ancient texts of traditional systems of medicine available across the Globe. For instance, V. fauriei has been used in China and Japan (Hikino et al., 1972), V. capensis in Africa (Iwu, 1993), V. jatamansi in India (Schulz et al., 1997), V. edulis in Mexico (Schulz et al., 1997), and V. officinalis in Europe (Pilerood and Prakash, 2013) for therapeutic purposes. Among all existing Valeriana species, V. jatamansi has remained an important herb in the Ayurvedic (Charaka Samhita and Susruta) and Unani system of medicine since time immemorial. Nowadays, this is a preferable sedative herb over the modern medicines, and sometimes it enhances therapeutic effects with other generic drugs (Rivera et al., 2013; Jugran et al., 2019). Also, it had been recommended for the treatment of insomnia by a second-century Greek physician ‘Aelius Galenus’ (Galen). The presence of bioactive compound ꞌvalepotriatesꞌ (Wagner et al., 1980; Grusla et al., 1986; Houghton, 1999; Mishra, 2004) in roots/rhizome of V. jatamansi is responsible for sedative and tranquilizing properties. This compound belongs to the class of non-glycosidic iridoid esters (Baby et al., 2005). This makes it a better alternative choice among existing sedative drugs (benzodiazepine) for curing insomniac people. Furthermore, V. jatamansi possesses antidepressant, anticonvulsive, antispasmodic, antitumor, cytotoxic, antihypertensive, analgesic, laxative, carminative, antidyspeptic, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial and several pharmacological properties etc. (Bounthanh et al., 1981; Cheng et al., 2003; Dinda et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2005). The above-mentioned plant properties are more prominent in the underground parts of herb i.e., rhizomes and roots than above ground biomass.

As this wild herb is nature’s gift in term of NTFP (Non-Timber Forest Products), it fetches indirect alms for local people and tribal community residing around the forests. Like other Himalayan herbs, V. jatamansi has also been collected from forest since decades (Olsen and Larsen, 2003), and overexploitation leads to decline of this herb from natural-habitat. Tourist interference is also one of the reasons for its habitat destruction and eventual disturbance of the forest ecosystem. Mostly, the medicinal plants are growing naturally in specific areas of Himalaya, if they get deracinated extensively, it can cause large-scale soil erosion (Ramakrishnappa, 2002). It would be very difficult for these species to counter the anthropogenic destruction to re-establish again. However, till now IUCN has not been recognized this herb in the endangered list. If the exploitation of this herb continues, the extinction of this herb will come soon. Thus, there is an urgency of replenishment and cultivation of this species.

Cultivation of wild species and its sustainable harvesting (Ticktin, 2004) are two important measures to conserve species germplasm. Consequently, it can meet the large-scale raw material demand at the global market. Saini and Kaicker (1987) illustrated that commencement of agriculture since early time exploited natural genetic diversity. This ‘genetic characteristic account’ provides the base for biodiversity and avails information on the subject of genetic divergence. When these variations get affected by the changes in climate, it makes species vulnerable and hard to survive in that particular climate. The decreases in V. jatamansi populations from natural habitat cause its loss in genetic diversity and consequently affecting its adaptation to changing climate. Ultimately, these activities are pushing plants toward extinction. This loss of genetic richness can compromise the survival of the species (Grassi et al., 2004); thus, it becomes a need of the hour to implement the conservation programs.

Genetic diversity is influenced by habitat types and the altitudinal range (Jugran et al., 2013, 2015). This species has more genetic diversities than any other endemic species because of its wide geographical distribution. In their study, Faivre and Windus (2002) observed more genetic heterozygosity in V. jatamansi than V. ciliate. Apart from genetic diversity, its preliminary phytochemical analysis has also revealed the chemical diversities in the different population of V. jatamansi which has been studied by various researchers (Mathela and Dev, 2003; Sati et al., 2005; Raina and Negi, 2015). In nature, different volatile metabolites, which are released into the air by plants attract and repel herbivores, predators, parasitoids as well as pollinators (Dicke and Baldwin, 2010; Kessler et al., 2011). Therefore, phytochemical diversity, which can be reflected by insect activities (Schuman and Baldwin, 2016) plays an important role with respect to adaptation. In case of V. jatamansi, varietal adaptation can be linked to its unique floral biology.

Wild plants species which can adapt easily in any conditions are always suitable for domestication or cultivation. For commercial cultivation, the knowledge about methods of propagation, appropriate time of planting, seed rate, plants spacing, intercultural operations, nutrient management, harvesting and, post-harvesting technique should be standardized, because these activities largely influence the quality of economical part of the plant. Moreover, for proper application of agro-techniques, one must understand the whole biology of the species. Keeping in mind the above facts, this review focuses on the comprehensive analysis of V. jatamansi with regards to genetic diversity, chemical diversity, crop-ecology, agrotechnology, industrial demand and conservation point of view.

Section snippets

Taxonomic classification

An organized hierarchical scientific classification of Valeriana jatamansi Jones [Sir William Jones (1746–1794)] is given below:

Kingdom - Plantae

Phylum - Tracheophyta,

Class - Magnoliopsida

Order - Dipsacales

Family - Caprifoliaceae

Genus - Valeriana

Species - jatamansi

Botanical Name - Valeriana jatamansi Jones

Synonym - Valeriana wallichii DC. (Bennet, 1987)

Morphology

V. jatamansi is an erect perennial pubescent herb; its height varies in natural and field conditions. In nature, plant height is attained up to

Uses

V. jatamansi herb has various uses in pharmaceutical, perfumery, food, beverage, cosmetic industries etc. (Gu et al., 1999; Huang et al., 2009). Regarding its ethnobotanical uses, this herb is considered as sacred plant in Tehri-Garhwal areas of Uttrakhand in India. This herb acts as one of the important ayurvedic ingredients to the forest communities in preparations of Shringiadikwath and Jwardikashyai, and in some ceremonies, it is also used in ubtan (semi-solid beauty treatment material)

Agrotechnology

Cultivation is an important practice to conserve the endangered medicinal plants in wild. It acts as a viable method to provide natural raw material without affecting their actual habitat (IUCN, 1993). For domestication of Valeriana wild strains, efforts have been made to shift its habitat from wild conditions to semi-natural agroforestry system. Technically ꞌAgroforestryꞌ is a land use system where crops are grown with forest trees on the same unit of land instead of monoculture or sole crop

Post–harvest management

Post-harvesting techniques play important role in the management of medicinal and aromatic crops. It includes handling, storage, and other processing works after harvesting the crop at maturity stage. This helps in maintaining the quality of product for a longer period. Some of the important quality indicators like color, essence, moisture, active ingredients and other microbiological problems, are in concern with safety problem (Yahia, 2006). These indicators start to deteriorate after

Trade and adulteration of product

During the Second World War, scarcity and strong needs of drugs lead to the cultivation of medicinal plants (Chopra et al., 1958) by various government and non-government organizations across the world. In India, rural farmers of hilly areas are still with the traditional system of cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP). This sub-continent is a rich source of diverse herbal plants, and thus India becomes a focused centre for herbal trade in the world. Among wild plants, V. jatamansi

Species conservation and strategies

Recent studies implicate that less distinct genetic diversity has been noticed in valerian accessions of Western sites of the Himalaya (Rajkumar et al., 2011). Twelve populations were studied by POPGENE (a program software used to study population genetics) using SSRs markers (Singh et al., 2014). This implies that in the North-Western Himalayan region, diversity of V. jatamansi populations is getting low and need a rigorous conservation measure. In the North-Eastern Himalayan region, this herb

Constraints and opportunities

In general, for cultivation of wild plants, it is a paramount step to study their phenological behaviour. In the case of V. jatamansi, problems have been aroused due to it’s diversify nature which responses differently in different climatic conditions. V. jatamansi is either purely female plant or hermaphrodite in nature; though it shows polyploidy or dominant population with tetraploid nature. Therefore, many times conventional breeding programs have been failed due to its above-mentioned

Conclusions

In this review, we have noticed that V. jatamansi herb has been explored from last decades with multiple folk and traditional remedies. With the advancement in research, numerous pharmaceutical uses and respective bioactive compounds have been analysed for commercial production of generic drugs. Concurrently, it becomes famous for its essential oil in perfumery sectors. This leads to a sudden increase in demand of this herb in different industries, and simultaneously V. jatamansi is suffering

Declaration of Competing Interest

I do not have any Conflict of Interest. This is to certify that this manuscript has not been published previously or submitted in any other journal, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Acknowledgements

The authors are highly grateful for regular encouragement from Director, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur. The authors acknowledge the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for financial support.

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