The present study aimed to investigate the impact of altitude on the bioactive compounds, antioxidants, and antimicrobial activity of Taxus wallichiana. Plant needles were collected from three different altitudes representing different environmental conditions and investigated for secondary metabolites such as phenol, flavonoid, flavanol, taxol, and tannin along with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Results revealed that the investigated Taxus wallichiana populations have accumulated varied amount of studied bioactive compounds. Total phenol, flavonoid content, and bioactive compounds such as gallic acid, ascorbic acid, and quercetin showed significant positive correlation with altitude (p < 0.01) and antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS). By contrast, tannin, taxol, and flavanol content of the plant did not show any relation with altitude, but showed positive significant correlation with antibacterial activity. The results suggest that the accumulation of bioactive compounds in Taxus wallichiana needles depend on the edaphic and climatic conditions of the habitat and plant antimicrobial activity is mainly due to taxol, flavanol, and tannin compounds.

The present study focuses on the phytochemical content of Juniperus communis L. collected from different altitudinal locations in Uttarakhand, India. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report which analyses the secondary metabolite contents, antioxidant potential, chlorophyll and carotenoid content of J. communis needles and their correlation with the environmental factors. The results showed variation in phytochemical content from different locations, with the highest total phenolic content of 42.80 ± 1.398 mg GAE/g DW estimated from JC3 (3891 m), flavonoid content of 2.47 ± 0.120 mg QE/g DW from JC4 (4065 m), and tannin content of 8.21 ± 1.445 mg TAE/g DW from JC4. The highest antioxidant activity determined by DPPH and ABTS assays were calculated as 36.97 ± 0.030 μg/mL and 518.78 ± 0.123 μg/mL in JC4 respectively while FRAP assay revealed highest antioxidative capacity of samples from JC2 (3507 m). The GC–MS analysis revealed the presence of around 35 compounds with communic acid, beta-Elemene, oplopanone, mome inositol, and spathulenol as the major compounds. In conclusion, elevation significantly influences the extraction yield, chlorophyll content, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and chemical composition of the extracts.Soil properties, such as pH, moisture content, and nutrient availability, also played a role in these variations. Therefore, the findings suggest that environmental factors can significantly impact the bioactive potential of J. communis and highlight the importance of considering these factors in future research and applications.

Bergenia ciliata is an important ornamental medicinal plant of Sikkim Himalaya with wide range of pharmaceutical applications. In the present study, an efficient in vitro propagation protocol has been developed for B. ciliata using leaf disc explants. The highest number of regenerated shoots per explant was obtained on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with a combination of 5 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 5 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The 100% rooting was observed in shoots after 6 weeks of culture on liquid MS medium. The plantlets were successfully acclimatized (100%) in a garden soil-sand-farmyard manure mixture (1: 1: 1 v/v/v) in the greenhouse. This micropropagation protocol would facilitate rapid propagation of B. ciliata for its conservation, and could help pharmaceutical demands sustainably.