Influence of Geographical and Climatic Conditions on Camptothecin Content of Nothapodytes nimmoniana

Camptothecin, topoisomerase I-DNA inhibitor, has been evaluated in methanolic extract of various parts of Nothapodytes nimmoniana (J. Graham) Mabberly (Family Icacinaceae) collected in the month of February from different regions (Mahabaleshwar and Patan regions of Maharashtra state and Sirsi region of Karnataka state) of Western Ghats, India, using high performance liquid chromatography. Quantification was performed with the regression analysis and the method was validated as per International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. In regard to various plant parts, maximum concentration of camptothecin was found in root (2.62%) collected from Mahabaleshwar, Patan (1.21%) and Sirsi (0.88%) regions followed by stem collected from Patan (1.45%), Sirsi (0.70%) and Mahabaleshwar (0.43%) regions. The lowest concentration of camptothecin was found in leaves collected from Sirsi (0.29) region, followed by Patan (0.37) and Mahabaleshwar (0.70%) region. Fruits collected from Mahabaleshwar region contain maximum concentration of camptothecin (0.63%) whereas fruits from Patan region contain minimum concentration of camptothecin (0.36%). There was a 2-fold higher concentration of camptothecin observed in roots from Mahabaleshwar region than roots from Sirsi and Patan region. So it is evident that geographical and climatic conditions have remarkable influence in the content of camptothecin in N. nimmoniana.