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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Bamboo (Poaceae), an important non-wood forest resource has been interwoven with the lifestyle of the Bodos and allied tribes of this region since ages but there is as such no documentation of bamboos found in Kokrajhardistrict of Assam, India. Thus, here an attempted have been made to present diversity of bamboo species along with theirutilization by the resident tribes. METHODOLGY: Field visit were conducted for collection coupled with consultation with thepublished literatures, experts for proper identification and extensive interviews with the local people to record the uses andvernacular names. RESULTS: A total of 13 species, 2 varieties and 1 forma under 5 genera were recorded from Kokrajhar district.The genera Bambusa was found to be the most dominating with eight species, two varieties and one forma. The myriad uses ofbamboo by the local as construction material, raw material for pulp and paper industries, agarbati (incense sticks) industries,designing minor craft have also been presented. Of the total 9 species produces edible shoots which forms a favourite item for thetribes.

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We have investigated the anti-oxidative and glucose-lowering effects of 70% methanolic extract of H. heteroclita fruit pulp (MHE). Anti-oxidative property of MHE was assessed by free radical scavenging assays and compound level screening by LC-MS profiling. analysis and preclinical validation were also performed using molecular docking and alloxan-induced diabetic model, respectively. MHE showed high anti-oxidant activity in DPPH radical scavenging assay with an IC50 of 0.37 μg/mL. The LC-MS profile of MHE substantiated the presence of p-hydroxy acids including benzoic, salicylic, p-coumaric, o-coumaric, caffeic, protocatechuic, gentisic, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic, gallic, vanillic, syringic, and ferulic acids. Among these, caffeic acid was the most likely compound to interact with 1R0E at Val70, Ala83, Lys85, Gly97, Asp133, Val135, Leu188, Cys199, and Asp200, and with 1Q4L at Ile62, Ala83, Asp133, Tyr134, Val135, Arg141, and Val170. Treatment of rats with MHE showed significant reduction in serum glucose levels as compared to control rats. Taken together, the results show that MHE has compounds with anti-diabetic effect, which could be partially due to the anti-oxidant effects of the active components in MHE.

The successive generation continues in angiosperm through flowering. The parent plants of some of the members that belong to Poaceae family dies after flowering.A member of the subfamily Bambusoideae of Poaceae, bamboos, exhibit similar characteristics.In this paper, an attempt have been made to document the incidence of the flowering of bamboo in Kokrajhar district of BTAD, Assam.Four bamboo species viz. Bambusa assamica, Bambusa tulda, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii and Melocanna baccifera belonging to three different genera were recorded to flower sporadically during March-May 2015 at Chandrapara, Odlaguri, Baukhungri hills, Chandrapara respectively.All the recorded species were semelparous i.e. the life cycle of the plant ends with flowering. Thus if the flowering continues in the same frequency the time may come in near future when this invaluable natural resource might become endangered or even extinct. Thus, this is the need of the hour to apply biotechnological tools and develop protocols for propagation and conservation and thus, save this green gold from germplasm erosion