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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively. Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively. On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs. In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc. During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.

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20111
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Subject: Plant Biotechnology × Author: Achintya Kumar, Dolui × End date: 2011 × Start date: 2000 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Detection and quantification of piperine from in vitro cultures of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)
    (Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2011) Achintya Kumar, Dolui; KAU; Sujatha, R
    The present study on “Detection and quantification of piperine from in vitro cultures of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)” was carried out at the Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, during the period 2009-2011. The objective of the study was to standardize the protocol for in vitro synthesis of piperine in black pepper and to detect and quantify the in vitro synthesized piperine. Callus cultures from tender, pale green leaf from the variety Panniyur 5 and immature berry and epicarp of berry from the variety Panniyur 2 were established successfully. Surface sterilization with mercuric chloride (0.1 %) for 5 min was effective in initiating healthy, contamination free callus from leaf and 10 min were effective in initiating healthy callus from berry explants. It was observed that half strength MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) medium supplemented with IAA (1.0 mg l-1) along with BA (1.0 mg l-1) was suitable for initiation and proliferation of calli. Leaf derived cultures were superior with respect to callus initiation and proliferation. Leaf calli were sub cultured into five different modifications of the culture initiation medium viz., (I) increased sucrose concentration (5 different concentrations), (II) 1/4th nitrate and phosphate concentration in the MS stock solution, (III) different hormone combinations (2, 4-D and BA in four combinations), (IV) stress inducing agent (mannitol) and (V) precursor of piperine (L-lysine) in three different concentrations. The effect of these modified media on piperine production was studied by detecting the presence of piperine and estimating the quantity by High Performance Liquid Chromatography in the respective calli, callus growing in the culture initiation medium (as control) and the calli growing in these modified media. Piperine was extracted from 1.0 g callus by grinding in 5 ml methanol and the centrifuged crude extract was used for High Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis (Shimadzu, Japan). Gradient elution system using 0.1% ortho-phosphoric acid and 90 % acetonitrile in 0.1% ortho-phosphoric acid was employed for detection of piperine. The study revealed that increasing the concentration of sucrose up to 7 per cent in the callus initiation medium increased the piperine content from 0.018 % to 0.135% in leaf derived calli whereas, reducing the nitrate nitrogen and phosphorus content of the basal medium to 1/4th of its original strength exerted an inhibitory effect on piperine production (0.003%). Similarly, supplementing the callus initiation medium with mannitol at 4 per cent along with 3 per cent sucrose, resulted in enhanced in vitro synthesis of the target compound (0.107 %). Similarly the medium with 2, 4-D (3.0 mgl-1) enhanced the in vitro synthesis of piperine to 0.042 per cent in berry calli. Precursor feeding with L-lysine at higher concentration (100 mgl-1) also exerted a favorable influence on piperine (0.066 %) synthesis in comparison to other concentration (5 and50 mgl-1). Among the various explants studied, young leaves were found to be the most suitable for callus induction in black pepper. In vitro piperine production from leaf calli (0.135 %) was higher than that in the leaf used as explant (0.01%). Berry calli produced very less amount of piperine (0.042 %) compared to that of fresh berry used as explant (2.7%). The results indicated that in vitro synthesis of piperine may be exploited by further modifications of the culture media.