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Background: Garlic belongs to the largest monocot genus, Allium, comprising different species known for their use as spices and medicinal plants. It ranks second in volume and area of production among the Allium species, next to onoin. The Philippines is renowned for garlic varieties with a strong and pungent odour observed in the seven accessions registered at the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC), Department of Agriculture, Philippines. Morphological, phytochemical and molecular characterization of the different garlic varieties would provide baseline information important to the identification of the registered varieties, their conservation and improvement. Methods: Physiologically mature and disease-free NSIC-registered garlic accessions were characterized and evaluated at the Institute of Crop Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños. The bulbs were separated from each other and planted in a homogenous field. Morphological characterization was done from the vegetative stage until bulb harvesting using an Allium spp. descriptor list. The mature bulbs of each accession were screened for phytochemicals and alliin content. SSR markers were used to fingerprint the eight garlic accessions. Result: Qualitative characters showed low diversity (H’ = 0.22), while quantitative characters had intermediate diversity (H’= 0.51). Identical phytochemicals, flavonoids and phenols, were detected across all the garlic accessions. Despite this, alliin content varied considerably with Bang-ar and Mindoro having the highest (37.70±0.70 mg/g) and lowest (17.22±0.68 mg/g) alliin contents, respectively. Only one SSR primer, ASA-24, showed polymorphic bands that can discriminate Batanes White and MMSU Gem from the other NSIC-registered garlic varieties.

An objective method to establish apex and base type descriptor states is proposed using elliptic Fourier descriptors derived from appropriately segmented images. Using pili (Canarium ovatum Engl.) kernel-in-shell apex as a model, 51 pili accessions represented by 10 kernel-in-shell images per accession were acquired using a calibrated VideometerLab3 setup. An appropriate segmentation scheme was applied by developing an algorithm that would segment blobs that cover only the apical region (upper 25%) of the closed contours using OpenCV implemented in Python 3.7. From the segmented blobs, elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFDs) were derived. Subsequently, the EFDs were analyzed using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Two effective principal components were able to explain 94.18% of the variation which were visualized to show differences involving length to width ratio, apex angle and left-to-right leaning orientation of the segmented images. Although a single apex shape was observed, mean EFDs of three clusters were able to represent three apex type descriptor states-narrowly acute, acute and widely acute. This indicated that elliptic Fourier analysis can characterize variations in the apical regions, particularly apex shape and angle, given the proper segmentation protocol.

Background: Seed characteristics of Tabernaemontana pandacaqui Lam., an indigenous medicinal plant species from the Philippines, were investigated to help identify appropriate conservation strategies. Methods: Mature seeds were tested for viability at different dormancy-breaking treatments and storage conditions. Seeds were also characterized morphologically and the seedling developmental pattern was established using the Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and CHemische Industrie (BBCH) scale. We also determined the preliminary chemical composition through qualitative phytochemical screening and proximate analysis. Result: Seeds of T. pandacaqui are obovate in shape with a 1000-seed weight of 20.99±0.62 g at 4.7% moisture content. Removal of the aril from the fresh seeds improved germination from 30%±0.98 to 84%±0.71 and shortened the time to seedling emergence from 45 days to 4 days after sowing. The seeds can tolerate drying to 4.7% moisture content and storage at -10°C for 3 months; thus, they have orthodox storage behavior. The germination pattern is epigeal phanerocotylar type, wherein the foliaceous cotyledons are raised (BBCH 09) and unfolded above the soil surface (BBCH 10). The seedling then develops an ovate to elliptic-shaped first true pair of leaves (BBCH 12) completing the germination process. The pre-dried seeds also have a high oil content of 28.7407±0.09316% with a strong presence of alkaloids and saponins. This indicates that the seed is amenable to ex-situ conservation through seedbanking, but its viability must be monitored in shorter intervals due to its high oil content.