New plant species discovered along Sekmai Riverbank in Manipur’s Kakching District

Kakching: A new flowering plant species has been discovered in the Kakching district of Manipur. It has been named and described as curcuma kakchingense. The new species belongs to the angiospermic family zingiberaceae which includes curcuma, ginger, cardamom, etc. Three researchers, Dr L Bidyaleima, Dr R K Kishor and Prof G J Sharma, from the Department of Life Sciences, Manipur University and Kwaklei and Khonggunmelei Orchids Pvt Ltd made publication in the reputed peer reviewed journal Nordic Journal of Botany on October 11 this year.

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Curcuma kakchingense is a robust plant, as tall as eight feet, having large terminal inflorescences and bitter taste lemon-yellow rhizomes which are subterranean in habit. The new plant species has a close resemblance to curcuma longa (local name: Yaingung) and curcuma phrayawan (a species reported from Thailand). It was found dwelling along the bank of the Sekmai river in Kakching. As it is known only from a particular area and information regarding the distribution and number of mature individuals in the natural habitat is lacking, its conservation status remains Data Deficient (DD) under the IUCN Red List category. Therefore, the possible threat of extinction to the plant is yet to be assessed, says a press notefrom Lead Author, Dr Laishram Bidyaleima.

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Until the report of curcuma kakchingense there had been only 93 recorded Curcuma names as accepted species worldwide; of these 67 are from Thailand.

For India 42 curcuma species were recorded and the last one to be described was curcuma kshonapatra from Karnataka in 2016, while the last one to be described from Mizoram was curcuma rubrobracteata in 2003. Despite the extensive diversity and distribution of curcuma plants in North East India their inventory work is at a relatively slow pace and there could be many more yet to be described plant species in the pristine forest of NE India and the chances of them getting extinct before discovery is very high.

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Several species of curcuma are important for their use in cuisines, traditional medicines, spices, dyes, perfumes, cosmetics, and as ornamental plants. Curcumin and several curcuminoids found in curcuma species are nontoxic polyphenolic compounds that have biological activities. The essential oil of curcuma species possesses a wide variety of pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-diarrheal, carminative, diuretic, anti-rheumatic, hypotensive, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-viral, insecticidal, etc. Therefore, discovery of new species of curcuma will definitely open up new vistas for investigation of their phytochemistry, biological activity and application in the development of new nutraceuticals or pharmaceutical novelties, the press note added.

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