Development of Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Based SCAR Marker for Identification of Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq (Convolvulaceae)

Vidari is an Ayurvedic herbal drug used as aphrodisiac, galactagogue and is also used in the preparation of Chyavanaprash. Tubers of Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq. (Convolvulaceae), Pueraria tuberosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) DC (Fabaceae), Adenia hondala (Gaertn.) de Wilde (Passifloraceae) and pith of Cycas circinalis L. (Cycadaceae) are all traded in the name of Vidari, creating issues of botanical authenticity of the Ayurvedic raw drug. DNA-based markers have been developed to distinguish I. mauritiana from the other Vidari candidates. A putative 600-bp polymorphic sequence, specific to I. mauritiana was identified using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Furthermore, sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) primers (IM1F and IM1R) were designed from the unique RAPD amplicon. The SCAR primers produced a specific 323-bp amplicon in authentic I. mauritiana and not in the allied species.