U.S. patent number PP12,030 [Application Number 09/145,290] was granted by the patent office on 2001-08-07 for hybrid mint plant named `neerkalka`.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Invention is credited to Alok Kalra, Suman Preet Singh Khanuja, Sushil Kumar, Nareshwar Mengi, Arif Ali Naqvi, Nirmal Kumar Patra, Ajit Kumar Shasany, Harikesh Bahadur Singh, Hemendra Pratap Singh, Kambod Singh, Ved Ram Singh, Vijay Pal Singh, Hasan Tanveer.
United States Patent |
PP12,030 |
Kumar , et al. |
August 7, 2001 |
Hybrid mint plant named `Neerkalka`
Abstract
The present invention relates to the development of a new and
distinct interspecific mint hybrid `Neerkalka` developed by sexual
crossing between improved Mother plant Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka)
and pollen plant Mentha spicata (cv Neera), which hybrid is
propagated vegetatively by suckers or stem cuttings and is stable
for commerical cultivation.
Inventors: |
Kumar; Sushil (Lucknow,
IN), Patra; Nirmal Kumar (Lucknow, IN),
Khanuja; Suman Preet Singh (Lucknow, IN), Shasany;
Ajit Kumar (Lucknow, IN), Kalra; Alok (Lucknow,
IN), Singh; Harikesh Bahadur (Lucknow, IN),
Singh; Hemendra Pratap (Lucknow, IN), Singh; Ved
Ram (Lucknow, IN), Mengi; Nareshwar (Lucknow,
IN), Tanveer; Hasan (Lucknow, IN), Naqvi;
Arif Ali (Lucknow, IN), Singh; Vijay Pal
(Lucknow, IN), Singh; Kambod (Lucknow,
IN) |
Assignee: |
Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (New Delhi, IN)
|
Family
ID: |
22512437 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/145,290 |
Filed: |
September 2, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
PLT/259 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01H
5/02 (20130101); A01H 5/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01H 005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;PLT/25.9 |
Primary Examiner: Campell; Bruce R.
Assistant Examiner: Baker; Wendy C
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Claims
We claim:
1. A new and distinct variety of interspecific mint plant, as
herein described and illustrated.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and distinct interspecific
hybrid mint plant namely `Neerkala` which is developed by sexual
crossing between improved Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) and Mentha
spicata (cv Neera). The hybrid is propagated vegetatively by
suckers or stem cutting and is stable for commercial
cultivation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Plants of the mint species are cultivated world wide for their
specific mint aroma, which find uses in the culinary, antiseptic,
confectionery and flavoring purposes. The distinct taste and aroma
originating from the essential oils of different species in Mentha
genus determine their specific use. The natural cross compatibility
occurs between the species although manual emasculation and
pollination is impeded due to extremely small size of the florets.
Mentha cardiaca seems to have originated as a naturally occuring
species believed to originate from the hybridization of M. arvensis
and M. spicata. Mentha arvensis which is cultivated for mint oil
has several widely adopted cultivars with superior agronomic
traits. The variety `Kalka` is one of the best cultivars grown
widely by the farmers of India. Similarly, Mentha spicata cultivars
released by Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
(CIMAP), Lucknow, India, are widely adopted by the farmers for
superior spearmint oil quality. One such cultivar is Mentha spicata
`Neera` or CIMAP/`Neera` which is distinctly different in its RAPD
pattern from other available genotypes/varieties. It is known for
its profuse flowering and seed setting habit. As such, the
Applicants have combined the characters of these two mint species
(Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata) and developed a hybrid herb
(Mentha arvensis.times.M. spicata) `Neerkalka` which has high
yield, desirable oil quality for various herbal uses like chewing
gums, toothpaste etc. The selected hybrid clone retains the profuse
growth habit of Mentha arvensis simultaneously expressing the
"carvone type" mint oil characteristics of Mentha spicata and
possesses the phenotype tending towards another naturally occuring
species believed to originate from the hybridization of M. arvensis
and M. spicata. The hybrid plant is more commercially acceptable
due to its more favorable argonomic traits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides stable commercially
cultivable hybrid mint plant `Neerkalka` providing high herb yield,
high oil yield and spearmint oil type with menthol tinge, which
plant is developed by sexual crossing between improved Mentha
arvensis (cv Kalka) and Mentha spicata (cv Neera).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The interspecific hybrid `Neerkalka` has been developed by the
Applicants by pollinating Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) with pollen
from Mentha spicata (cv Neera). The Applicants planted the parent
plants Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) and Mentha spicata (cv Neera) in
alternate rows to favor crossing between them. The flowers of
Mentha arvensis were dusted with the pollen collected from Mentha
spicata flowers at regular intervals. The Applicants intention was
to combine the better growth, menthol smell and disease resistance
characters of Japanese mint with the carvone smell of spearmint to
create a novel oil quality which can be more acceptable in
pharmaceutical as well as confectionery industries. The mint
species used as parents, were selected from the varieties already
released by CIMAP and well accepted by the farmers and industries.
The plants were grown at Pantnagar, India, in plots of 5 m.times.5
m. As the hybrid can reproduce vegetatively by vigorous suckers and
the genotypic characters are firmly fixed, the genotype can be of
immense importance as improved variety. Hence, the novelty of the
invention is that the hybrid was developed from improved varieties
of CIMAP which are well characterized for their genotypes. The
hybrid plant thus produced has more biomass and oil yield (carvone
based) than the parent Mentha spicata and the natural hybrid Mentha
cardiaca. The hybrid plant `Neerkalka` is the distinct hybrid
developed by the inventors through sexual crossing between female
parent Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) and pollen donor Mentha spicata
(cv Neera) whereas Mentha cardiaca (Syn. Mentha gracilis cv
Cardiaca) is believed to have originated in nature by natural
crossing between Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata. In other
words, the rationale behind the present invention was to combine
the characters of two known mint species available with them, in a
directed manner to yield a plant of high herb yield, high oil yield
and spearmint oil type with menthol tinge.
Accordingly, the invention provides a novel hybrid plant Mentha
arvensis.times.M. spicata `Neerkalka` having the following
combination of characters:
a. The said hybrid is a cross between female parent Mentha arvensis
(cv Kalka) and pollen donor Mentha spicata (cv Neera),
b. The said hybrid is tolerant to leaf spot, rust and powdery
mildew diseases,
c. The said hybrid contains both menthol and carvone in the
essential oil,
d. The said hybrid produces more biomass and oil in comparison to
Mentha spicata and Mentha cardiaca cultivars `Neera` and `MCAS
2`,
e. The hybrid genotype has a unique RAPD profile, and
f. It has a pleasant smell of both carvone and menthol useful in
medicinal and aromatic preparations.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a hybrid yielding
spearmint oil having the following ingredients: Limolene
(6.8-23.2%), Menthol (0.66-2.45%), Carvone (64.0-76.1%) and other
unidentified fractions in the essential oil totaling to 100%.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a photograph of a stem of the hybrid, `Neerkalka` showing
the size and color of the leaves.
BREEDING HISTORY
The new hybrid clone of the present invention is the mint plant
developed in planned breeding programs conducted at Central
Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, India
and its field station Pantnagar, India. The early steps of
development, such as crossing of parent lines, were conducted in
CIMAP, Lucknow. The field trials were conducted at the field
station at Pantagar, India.
The plant of the present invention has been asexually reproduced in
the following manner. Generally, Mentha species are cultivated
through suckers as normal mode of asexual commercial propagation.
Suckers are the underground plant part which give rise to similar
plantlets when planted in the field. The hybrid plant `Neerkalka`
produces enough suckers for asexual propagation. The stems of the
plants were planted in the month of October in the field at CIMAP.
The plants were established which produced underground suckers.
These suckers were then planted in the main field in the month of
January for trial.
The breeding method involved is of cross pollination of Mentha
arvensis (cv Kalka) florets with Mentha spicata (cv Neera) pollen
and the seeds thus obtained, were collected upon maturation. Out of
a total of 260 seedlings raised from the hybrid seeds borne on the
Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka), a single distinct plant nearing Mentha
cardiaca phenotype including oil aroma was observed and
subsequently selected. This selected plant which was propagated and
multiplied vegetatively many times later, is the hybrid clone of
the present invention, designated as `Neerkalka` and referred as
"hybrid" hereafter.
Since the florets of Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata are very
small in size, the manual emasculation and pollination are
extremely difficult to achieve. To overcome this problem of
controlled pollination, the approach of developing hybrid seeds was
modified towards increasing the incidence of natural crossing
between restricted parents only. For this purpose, the selected
parents Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) and Mentha spicata (cv Neera)
were raised in alternate rows (2:1::Kalka:Neera) in the field from
the genetically pure suckers (maintained in the breeder's plot in
isolation). The plants raised in this way were grown to flowering.
Natural crossing between these parents was allowed to occur but
simultaneously the florets of Mentha arvensis were repeatedly
dusted with Mentha spicata pollen collected manually. Seeds were
collected from Mentha arvensis (Kalka) and bulked. Similarly, seeds
from Mentha spicata (Neera) florets were collected. The bulked
seeds were grown separately in flat earthen pots during winter. A
total of 260 seedlings could be raised from the seeds collected
from the florets of Mentha arvensis, whereas about 290 seedlings
were obtained from Mentha spicata, which were raised successfully
in individual pots. The seedling from Mentha spicata were almost
alike in morphology as compared to the parental phenotype (Neera)
and possessed similar carvone rich smell. All the seedlings from
Mentha arvensis except one, resembled the morphology of Mentha
arvensis (cv Kalka) and had menthol aroma. There was an exeptional
single seedling resembling the cv Kalka growth habit with a carvone
rich aroma supplemented with a menthol tinge, and thus having a
pleasant novel combination in the essential oil. The distinct plant
showed morphology approaching towards another species Mentha
cardiaca but for growth properties, leaf size and herbage yield, it
resembled Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka). The size and colour of the
leaves in the hybrid are similar to Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka)
whereas, the shape resembles the pollen parent Mentha spicata (cv
Neera) (Photograph #1). There are 2 leaves at each mode, 4 at the
apex, and the leaves are arranged in opposite decussate phyllotaxy.
The aroma of the oil was predominantly like that of the pollen
parent while the menthol tinge it possessed was inherited from the
female parent; thus the plant with recombined character was named
"Neerkalka". The two parental species, the hybrid and Mentha
cardiaca were grown (planting date 18.sup.th Jan., 1996) from pure
suckers side by side in different plots and were compared among
each other for the morphological characters. The plants species
were grown at 150:30:30 (N.sub.2 :P.sub.2 O.sub.5 K.sub.2 O) urea,
SSP, MOP fertilizer dose and harvested 110 days after planting to
compare the yield attributes. The comparison of some of the
characters are presented in Table 1. The color codes are according
to The R.H.S. Colour Chart published by The Roal Horticultural
Society, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PE, 1995.
EVIDENCE OF UNIFORMITY AND STABILITY
The genotype Neerkalka has remained stable and uniform for its
morphological characters and showed consistency in performance for
various quality attributes during its evaluation and vegetative
multiplication till date.
TABLE 1 Characteristics of cv Neera, cv Kalka, cv MCAS2 and the
newly developed hybrid clone Neerkalka of Mentha. Hybrid M. spicata
M. arvensis M. cardiaca Traits (Neerkalka) (Neera) (Kalka) (MCAS 2)
1. Plant height 56.8 .+-. 2.13 52.4 .+-. 2.10 97.0 .+-. 2.16 48.6
.+-. 2.20 (cm) 2. Leaf length 7.42 .+-. 0.40 2.34 .+-. 0.16 9.90
.+-. 0.37 6.31 .+-. 0.32 (cm) 3. Leaf width 2.66 .+-. 0.18 0.18
.+-. 0.14 2.66 .+-. 0.10 1.12 .+-. 0.10 (cm) 4. Leaf colour green
green green green (137A) (137B) (137C) (137D) 5. Leaf shape green
green green green (137A) (137B) (137C) (137D) 6. Hairiness hairs on
the hairs on the hairs on the hairs on the veins, veins, veins,
veins, glabrous glabrous glabrous glabrous 7. Leaf margin finely
sharp normal normal finely sharp serration serration serration
serration 8. Stem colour green (144C) green (144C) green (144D)
green (144C) with purple with purple with purple with purple
pigments at pigments at pigments at pigments at the base the base
the base the base (186C) (186D) (186C) (186C) 9. Influore- racemose
of idefinite racemose of racemose of scence axillary racemose
axillary axillary verticicil- verticicil- verticicil- lasters
lasters lasters 10. Flower whitish whitish whitish whitish colour
purple (69D) purple (69D) purple (69D) purple (69D) with purple
tinge (73B) 11. Single plant 184.4 .+-. 73.4 .+-. 3.27 208.0 .+-.
173.4 .+-. weight (g) 2.11 4.77 3.05 12. Leaf: Stem 0.61 .+-. 0.03
0.54 .+-. 0.01 0.90 .+-. 0.01 0.58 .+-. 0.02 13. Herbage 128 80 165
94 yield (Quintal/ hectare) 14. Oil 0.80 0.60 0.80 0.64 content (%)
15. Oil yield 102.4 48.0 132.0 60.2 (kg/hectare) 16. Oil aroma
carvone carvone menthol carvone based with based based based
menthol tinge 17. Growth semi prostate erect erect habit
prostate
The hybrid is resistant to leaf spot, rust and powdery mildew, when
planted in the infected field. Only 0-4 plants in the field of 2000
were observed to developed these diseases in separate trials. These
resistant characters are apparently inherited from the parent M.
arvensis (cv Kalka). Till date the hybrid has shown stability in
morphological characters, herbage and oil yield. The genotype has
aggressive suckers, growing under the soil surface to provide
protection from adverse weather conditions and mechanical
damage.
The plant is propagated vegetatively and large amount of planting
materials (suckers) become available in a short period of time.
This can be grown in monoculture and can be fitted into different
cropping patterns in which case ploughing with disk harrow is
needed to destroy the suckers and make the land suitable for the
subsequent crop.
Essential oil samples were prepared from the parents as well as the
hybrid of the present invention. The oil of female parent M.
arvensis contains 80 to 82% menthol but no carvone or carvol. The
pollen parent M. spicata contains 58% carvone in its essential oil.
The Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) studies of these oil samples
showed no peak for either menthone, menthol or menthyl acetate. But
the oil samples of the hybrid contain menthol 0.66% to 2.45% and
carvone 64% to 76% depending upon various states of growth. Table 2
shows important constituents of the essential oil extracted from
the hybrid and analysed by GLC.
TABLE 2 Constituents % of total oil 1. Limolene 6.8-23.2 2. Menthol
0.66-2.45 3. Carvone 64.0-76.1
TABLE 3 Detailed Botantical Description: a. Stem shape:
Quadrangular b. Number of nodes Main branch: 29 +/- 4 Upper branch
(29.sup.th node): 3 +/- 0 Middle branch (17.sup.th node): 6 +/- 0
Lower branch (8.sup.th node): 6 +/- 0 c. Average length of
internodes Main branch: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, (from
lower to upper nodes 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.8, in cm) 2.8,
2.9, 2.9, 2.9, 2.8, 2.8, 2.8, 2.7, 2.7, 2.6, 2.5, 1.9, 1.1 d. Leaf
apex shape: pointed (acute) Leaf base shape: pointed e. Leaf shape:
Elliptical to Ovate with 4-10 finely sharp serrartions on either
side. f. Petiole length: 4-6 cm g. Color of upper surface of leaf:
Green group (137 A) h. Color of lower surface of leaf: Yellow green
group (147 B) i. Number of trichomes per leaf (Avg. Trichomes
X1000): 804 j. Trichome ratio (lower leaf/ 215 upper leaf): k. Time
to flowering: April-May (70 days after planting first flowering
detected) l. Lastingness of Bloom: Continue till harvesting (110
days after planting) m. Flower shape: Tubular n. Pedicel length:
1-2 mm o. Pedicel color: Yellow green group (146 C) p. Calyx
diameter: 1 mm, four fused q. Calyx color: Yellow green group (146
C) r. Corolla: Four, fused to a corolla tube s. Corolla color:
Purple group (76 D) t. Pubescence of corolla: smooth u. Number of
anthers: Four, ocididimetry, remain inside the corolla tube v.
Color Designation: Red purple group (59 A) w. Stigma: bifid x.
Ovaries: Bicarpellary, syncarpous y. Color of stigma: Violet group
(85 C) z. Color of ovaries: Yellow green group (151 A)
The above examples are only illustrative in nature and should not
be construed to limit the scope of the invention.
Statement of Distinction
As evident from morphology, the hybrid is distinct from the parents
Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) and Mentha spicata (cv Neera) and the
natural species Mentha cardiaca.
The essential oil of the hybrid contains menthol and carvone where
as those of the parents contain either menthol or carvone.
The hybrid is superior in growth habit in comparison to natural
species M. cardiaca. The hybrid also has a higher biomass and oil
yield.
The essential oil of the hybrid has predominantly a carvone smell
with menthol tinge which is special and unique.
RAPD profile analysis shows codominant polymorphic bands in the
hybrid from Kalka and Neera when the genomic DNA is amplified with
primer MAP 03 .
The hybrid contains 2n=72 chromosomes in comparison to the parents
Mentha arvensis (cv Kalka) 2n=96 and Mentha spicata (cv Neera)
2n--48.
Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis
The RAPD patterns of the hybrid are completely different from those
of the parents as well as the M. cardiaca which is thought to be
the natural hybrid of M. arvesnsis and M. spicata. The hybrid of
the present invention was developed by crossing M. arvensis (cv
Kalka) and M. spicata (cv Neera) and is thus unique and novel. The
following primers were used to develop a unique and distinct RAPD
profile of the hybrid (Table 4).
TABLE 4 Primers Nucleotide Sequence 1.MAP 01 5'AAA TCG GAG C3'
2.MAP 02 5'GTC CTA CTC GC3' 3.MAP 03 5'GTC CTT AGC G3' 4.MAP 04
5'TGC GCG ATC G3' 5.MAP 05 5'AAC GTA CGC G3' 6.MAP 06 5'GCA CGC CGG
A3' 7.MAP 07 5'CAC CCT GCG C3' 8.MAP 08 5'CTA TCG CCG C3' 9.MAP 09
5'CGG GAT CCG C3' 10.MAP 10 5'GCG AAT TCC G3' 11.MAP 11 5'CCC TGC
AGG C3' 12.MAP 12 5'CCA AGC TTG C3'
MAP--Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
The co-dominance of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplified
bands with printer MAP 03 in the hybrid from M. arvensis (Kalka)
and M. spicata (Neera) is clear. So the hybrid of the present
invention is distinct, unique, novel and can be used for different
medicinal and aromatic purposes. The hybrid has better
morphological and economical traits and at present is available
only with CIMAP.
In addition to the characteristics features described in table 1,
the novel hybrid has the following features:
(a) No. of leaves at each node=2.
(b) No. of leaves at the apex=4.
(c) Phyllotaxy: Opposite deccusate
(d) Fertilizer dose (Kg/ha): 150:30:30 (N:P:K)--Urea, SSP, MOP
(e) Maturity:110 days (`Neerkalka` & M. spicata pollen parent,
120 days Mother parent: M. arvensis)
(f) Oil odour: `Neerkalka`: Carvone based with menthol tinge,
`Kalka`: Menthol based and `Neera`; Carvone based.
(g) Stem thickness: 4-5 mm (at 5.sup.th internode, standard
method)
(h) Agroclimatic conditions: Temp. 18-37.degree. C. (Maximum,)
8-22.degree. C. (Minimum).
* * * * *