Preliminary Studies on Bioactive Components of Dendrobium Species found in Manipur

Northeast India harbors rich diversity of orchid species under the family Orchidaceae. This may be attributed to the climatic and topographic conditions favorable for the growth of orchids. Manipur is also a home to 66 genera of orchids belonging to the family Orchidaceae. Of these, around 50 species belongs to the genus Dendrobium. Dendrobium species is a rich source of many bioactive components like alkaloids, flavonoids, stilbenoids, phenanthrene, polysaccharides etc. which can be used for many therapeutic purposes. Little or less work has been done on the quality and quantity assessment of these bioactive components of the Dendrobium species found in Manipur. Therefore, this study focuses on the morphological studies and screening of the bioactive components of ten Dendrobium species found in Manipur.