Plant growth promoters are naturally produced molecules that increase crop yield. Developing them for commercial use is difficult. The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) received a US patent in May, this year, for developing a promoter, isolated from a medicinal plant. Anil Kumar Singh, Deputy Director of the chemistry division, spoke to Savvy Soumya Misra

An ongoing project

We have been screening medicinal and aromatic plants for almost a decade at our centre in Lucknow. While experimenting with the medicinal plant, Callicarpa macrophylla (priyangu), we located the molecule called calliterpenone. It was isolated from the plant.

On the compound discovered

Examination of calliterpenone