Medicinal Plants and Genetic Diversity

C. occidentalis and C. tora are the important Ayurvedic medicinal plants. These plants have good antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. The phytochemicals of these plants differs markedly due to geographical, climatic and other factors. The genetic diversity analysis by RAPD reveals significant amount of genetic divergence among these plants. This study paves the way to discover the active components in these plants responsible for the antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. This is the first kind of investigation on these plants in Haryana region. The present investigation highlights the traditional usage of these plants which is authenticated by scientific experimentation.