Worldwide, since ages and nowadays, traditional medicine is well known, owing to its biodiversity, which immensely contributed to the advancement and development of complementary and alternative medicines. There is a wide range of spices, herbs, and trees known for their medicinal uses. Chilli peppers, a vegetable cum spice crop, are bestowed with natural bioactive compounds, flavonoids, capsaicinoids, phytochemicals, phytonutrients, and pharmacologically active compounds with potential health benefits. Such compounds manifest their functionality over solo-treatment by operating in synergy and consortium. Co-action of these compounds and nutrients make them potentially effective against coagulation, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, dreadful diseases, such as cancer, and microbial diseases, alongside having good anti-oxidants with scavenging ability to free radicals and oxygen. In recent times, capsaicinoids especially capsaicin can ameliorate important viral diseases, such as SARS-CoV-2. In addition, capsaicin provides an ability to chilli peppers to ramify as topical agents in pain-relief and also benefitting man as a potential effective anesthetic agent. Such phytochemicals involved not only make them useful and a much economical substitute to wonder/artificial drugs but can be exploited as obscene drugs for the production of novel stuffs. The responsibility of the TRPV1 receptor in association with capsaicin in mitigating chronic diseases has also been justified in this study. Nonetheless, medicinal studies pertaining to consumption of chilli peppers are limited and demand confirmation of the findings from animal studies. In this artifact, an effort has been made to address in an accessible format the nutritional and biomedical perspectives of chilli pepper, which could precisely upgrade and enrich our pharmaceutical industries towards human well-being.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is a prominent spice and vegetable crop farmed commercially worldwide. Variability is viewed as a key signal for any red onion enhancement effort. The current study was, therefore, carried out to learn about genetic variability and diversity among selected genotypes of 20 red onions at the C Block Farm, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, India, during the winter (rabi) season of 2021–2022, in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The characters, viz., average weight of bulbs (kg), neck thickness (cm), total soluble solids (°Brix), total sugar (%), and reducing sugar (%) demonstrated high heritability (97.38–99.97%) coupled with high genetic gain. Such traits were the least influenced by environmental effects, and additive gene action played a pivotal role in the manifestation of such characters. Traits with high heritability values (51.37–67.94%) demonstrate that the observed variability was under genetic control and provide an enormous range of possibilities for accomplishing selection depending on their phenotypic performances. For traits with moderate heritability, viz., bolting (%) and doubling (%), selection would be less effective but can still be given great importance. Based on correlation analysis, the character’s neck thickness, equatorial diameter, and polar diameter unveiled highly positive genetic correlation with the average weight of bulbs (0.120, 0.112; 0.194, 0.210 and 0.120, 0.112 for phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficient values, respectively), which indicates that the average weight of a bulb would be increased by an increase in such components. According to path coefficient analysis, the equatorial diameter exhibited the most positive direct effect on the average weight of bulbs (0.968), followed by polar diameter (0.687) and neck thickness (0.159). A wide range of variations for qualitative traits, including foliage colour, leaf width, foliage behaviour, the degree of leaf waxiness, the shape of the bulb, and bulb skin colour were observed. Based on Mahalanobish D² analysis, the genotypes were divided into four clusters. The highest number of genotypes was found in cluster I (eleven), followed by cluster IV (six genotypes) and cluster II (two genotypes). Cluster III had a single genotype and was monogenic. The study confirmed that a wide genetic variation prevailed in the onion genotypes taken under study, which could thereby be utilized in breeding programmes.

The experiments were undertaken at ‘C’ Block Farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India during 2017–18 and 2018–19 to study the genetic variability, heritability and genetic gain of 23 onion genotypes. Twenty open-pollinated varieties, two hybrid varieties were taken under consideration with one variety taken as standard check. Characters like number of leaves at 30 DAT and 90 DAT, neck thickness, number of scales per bulb, bolters, average weight of 10 bulbs, vitamin C content, dry matter, TSS, phenol content, severity of purple blotch disease, total yield and marketable yield expressed high heritability along with high genetic gain. These traits were least influenced by environmental effect, so, additive genetic effect might be the influential factor for expression of such traits. Traits with such high heritability values gives clear indication that the variability observed was mainly under genetic control and offers ample scope and opportunities to conduct selection based on phenotypic performances for improvement in future onion breeding programme. For traits with moderate heritability viz., double bolters, pyruvic acid, total sugar, storage loss, selection would be less effective in these traits but can still be taken up. Characters plant height at 90 DAT and unmarketable yield, which expressed low heritability are governed by non-additive genes and therefore, hybridization between diverse parents will be the best strategy for their improvement.

The investigation was conducted during the rabi season (September 2019 to February 2020) of 2019 to 2020 at the research field of All India Co-ordinated Vegetable Crops, located at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India. The aim of the study was to examine the characteristics of twenty-six chilli genotypes across twelve qualitative traits. The investigation unveiled a broad range of phenotypic variability using Randomized Block Design in three replications. Among the assessed traits, leaf density, leaf shape, fruit shape, plant habit, fruit curvature, and anther colour exhibited the most extensive variations among the genotypes. Conversely, the traits with the least diversity values, all falling below the overall mean, included fruit surface (0.28%), leaf colour (0.42%), stem pubescence (0.42%), stem colour (0.42%), anthocyanin colouration at nodes (0.48%), and leaf pubescence (0.48%). The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H') ranged from 0.28 to 1.07. Of the traits evaluated, leaf density displayed the highest diversity index (1.07), followed by leaf shape (1.05), fruit shape (1.01), plant habit (0.86), fruit curvature (0.69), and anther colour (0.58). The obtained Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index, with an average value of 64.66%, confirmed the presence of significant diversity within the examined chilli genotypes. The results suggest that the indirect selection of chilli parent plants based on a range of morphological characteristics can offer advantages in the management of both biotic and abiotic stresses. The information holds significant value for effective pre-breeding, management, and utilization in crop improvement initiatives, in addition to augmenting the genetic potential of the crop.

Garlic, a popular vegetable cum condiment is known widely for its health benefits, pharmacological properties and in curing several pathological conditions. This compelling horticultural bulb crop is propagated asexually from individual bulbils or cloves. It is an obligate apomict that lost its fertility and blooming potential long ago and probable reason for evolution from fertility to sterility to greater contiguity of human selection to asexual propagules as they are used in culinary as and when required. The crop is likely to be sterile owing to nutritional competition between topsets, pollen degeneration, chromosomal deletion, irregular chromosomal pairing and abnormal meiosis during gametogenesis and thus curbing genetic variation is needed utmost for its improvement. With asexual reproduction, molecular studies are challenging due to its expected and complex genome. Alongside classical molecular markers like RAPDs, AFLPs, SRAPs, SSRs, and isozymes; recent high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approaches like DArTseq has allowed characterization, mapping, whole-genome profiling, DNA fingerprinting among others in garlic. However, in recent years, biotechnological tools, genetic transformation via biolistic or Agrobacterium tumefaciens, polyploidization or chromosomal doubling have emerged as a potent breeding tool in enabling the improvement of vegetatively propagated plants such as garlic. In recent times biological responses of garlic and its compounds have been studied using epigenomics, proteomics and transcriptomics by researchers in preclinical studies instigating the biological effects of garlic and such gene expression revealed many early mechanistic events which may clinically underlie important health benefits pertaining to garlic intake. This review thus encompasses efforts achieved till present date towards elucidation of garlic genome with regard to molecular, biotechnological analysis and gene expression in terms of in vitro and in vivo studies.

Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes and hybrids resistant to anthracnose disease are not yet commercially available, and under favorable environmental conditions, the crop suffers significant yield and economic losses. In this study, six chili genotypes and 15 hybrids were screened for their resistance to anthracnose disease. Various plant disease resistance-related parameters were assessed, and the genotypes Bidhan Chili 4, Chinese Bona, and Pant C 1, along with the hybrids Pant C 1 × Bidhan Chili 4, Bidhan Chili 4 × Chili 38-Ragi, and Chinese Bona × Chili 38-Ragi, exhibited resistance to anthracnose disease. To gain a deeper understanding of chili defense mechanisms, biochemical changes in key defense enzymes—such as polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POX), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL)—as well as protein and phenol content in fruits (both before and after inoculation) were analyzed. The results showed that resistant genotypes and hybrids exhibited higher activity levels of PPO, POX, and PAL, along with increased protein and phenol content, compared to susceptible ones. These elevated biochemical responses in Colletotrichum capsici-inoculated fruits suggest that these mechanisms play a crucial role in enhancing host resistance against anthracnose disease.