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Background: Rheum emodi is an immensely useful medicinal herb of Himalaya having remarkable antidiabetic and anticancerous activities reported mainly from rhizomatous portion of the plant. The present study reports Gas Chromatographic-Mass spectroscopic characterization of both the conventionally used part i.e., the rhizome as well as other parts of R. emodi including callus to exploit the nonconventional parts for future use. Objective: To explore the bioactive constituents in the methanol extract of rhizome, fruit, leaf and callus of R. emodi. Methods: Phytochemical characterization of the plant extracts was performed by using GC-MS QP 2010 Plus. Various constituents were identified after matching their mass fragmentation pattern with data available in GC-MS library of National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) and Wiley Registry of Mass Spectral Data’s, New York (Wiley). Results: Total of 95 bioactive compounds were obtained in methanol extract of R. emodi out of which rhizome, fruit, leaf and callus revealed 31, 38, 27 and 47 compounds respectively. Two anthraquinones, chrysophanol (43.97%) and physcion (3.23%) were obtained from rhizome whereas fruit possessed only physcion (4.66%). Conclusion: The present findings characterizes and helps to supplement the chemical profile of the plant for its futuristic role in nutritional, pharmaceutical and therapeutic industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosynthetic performances of 82 lichens occurring in Western Himalayas were determined using chlorophyll fluorescence. Fv/Fm ranged from 0.023 to 0.655, with terricolous Cladonia subconistea at alpine region having maximum value. Photosynthetic performances of alpine lichens were found to be better than those of temperate due to the influence of favourable climate, wet soil and rock in the region. As the study was carried out during early summer, most of the lichens started experiencing stress which is evident by their Fv/Fm values. As many as 10 chlorolichens (with green alga as photobiont) growing in temperate region are severely stressed and have values <0.1. The stress components in the study area are mostly water availability and high intensity light. The cyanolichens (with blue green alga as photobiont) have relatively lower Fv/Fm ranging from 0.075 to 0.315. On the basis of their Fv/Fm values, the lichens in the present study are classified into three categories: normal, moderate and severely stressed with values ranging from 0.5 to 0.76, 0.3 to 0.49 and 0.01 to 0.29 respectively. The possible influence of crowded apothecia, growth form, substratum and association with moss towards the photosynthetic performance of lichens and their community are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]