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Humans are dependent on plants for medicines, food and raw materials. Among the many plants used, Henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) have been found to be useful, medicinally and commercially. The pigment lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-nathaquinone) derived from the plant is the source of Mehendi, used for dying. The plant has a vast repertoire of secondary metabolites, giving the plant medicinal properties like anticarcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulatory and many more. This creates a huge demand pressure for the plant, which can’t be met by traditional farming. There have been reports of low propagation rate from stem cuttings and seed. So, micropropagation remains the only tool, for the large scale vegetative propagation, without exposing the plant to stress, saving the plant from overexploitation. The plant was established in vitro, with hormonal manipulation. The study shows BAP 4 mg/L and combination hormone of BAP 2 mg/L + Kn 2 mg/L to have best results for shoot bud multiplication. Rooting was seen to be significant in MS medium, highlighting the low cost of maintenance of the plant. Karyotype analysis was performed between in vivo and in vitro plant sets, followed by transcriptome analysis. Karyotype analysis, performed to validate the homogeneity between in vivo and in vitro plants, showed a chromosome number of 30. Transcriptome analysis through the TRAPID platform showed significant difference between in vivo and in vitro plant’s transcript sets. Pathway analysis revealed enriched secondary metabolite pathways of commercial and economic importance in the in vitro generated plantlets as compared to the wild type control.

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Background: Antioxidants are substances that delays or inhibits the oxidation of a substrate by countering highly unstable entities (ROS and free radicals) that can cause cellular damage. Some natural source of antioxidants is green leafy vegetables like Amaranthus. Results of vegetable composition are usually determined on raw material, however for nutritional purposes most of them are cooked in different ways before consumption. In India, vegetables we consume are cooked by boiling in water, fried in oil or microwaved. Objectives: This paper mainly focuses on the comparative study of raw, boiled and fried forms of Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus tricolor to ensure which form of vegetable intake provides proper amount of antioxidants to our body in order to boost the antioxidant profile. Methods: Total phenol content, flavonoid content, free radical scavenging activity, estimation of total inhibitor capability and estimation of Quercetin, Kaempferol and Rutin by HPTLC analysis were carried on raw, boiled and fried forms of Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus tricolor. Results: The cooking processes lead significant changes in physical characteristics and chemical composition influencing the concentration and bioavailability of bioactive compounds of vegetables. The fried material is heated only on the surface so that the phenolic antioxidant losses are insignificant. Conclusion: The raw forms of green and fried form of red are more suitable for uptake. Also, green species contains more antioxidants than the red one.