Professional Documents
Culture Documents
It gives the close relationship between chemical constituents of plants and their
taxonomical status as chemotaxonomy establishes relationship between the position
of the plant and exact understanding of biological evolution and natural relationship.
Purpose of Chemotaxonomy
1. Taxonomic survey
2. Chemical techniques and pilot surveys
3. Full analysis of all material
4. Interpretation and comparison of data
1. Taxonomic survey
It covers the choice of the taxonomic group to be explored, studying its variation and
its size including the sound method of sampling. An understanding of natural
variation and knowledge of previously suggested phylogenies are both vital in good
sampling.
The investigator has to choose which chemical constituents are likely to exhibit
useful variations at the taxonomic level of family, genus or species. Similarly suitable
techniques to study these chemical constituents have to be determined. A pilot
survey is generally helpful in investigating the concentration of compounds within
organs or tissues and also seasonal and environmental fluctuations of content. e.g.
Iodine values of fixed oils are quite variable with temperature.
Once a technique is adopted, pilot projects indicate the course of main investigation.
All customary safeguards of scientific studies, e.g. controls, replications and
accurate records apply to chemotaxonomic work. Incomplete data may spoil and
hamper the whole investigation. It is not good to exhaust all plant materials in the
analysis. Some material should be retained for stock maintenance and voucher
All the data obtained from chemistry, phylogeny and taxonomy is interpreted and
depending upon the evidence the classification of plant should be reconsidered. If
only a minor change occurs in the match of chemical and other variation then the
classification is essentially confirmed.
Applications of Chemotaxonomy
Chemotaxonomical work can be applicable for
1. Separation of higher systemic categories.
2. Identifying similar enzyme systems in related plants producing analogous
compounds.
3. Identifying different pathways to similar compounds
4. Elucidating the structural complexity and identifying the compounds of restricted
occurrence.
Advantages of chemotaxonomy
1. ‘Molecular characters’ of chemotaxonomy have advantage over morphological
one that they can be very exactly described in terms of definite structural and
configurational chemical formulae.
2. Chemotaxonomy also able to assist the botanist in solving some of their
problems such as those due to convergence or divergence.
3. The greatest virtue of chemical method is that it is entirely independent of
classical biological methods.
4. It is possible that in future the enzymes will be found to be more important for
chemical classification of plants than the low molecular weight secondary
products.
Limitations of chemotaxonomy
1. The isolation and elucidation of plant constituents is often difficult and time
consuming.
2. A few thousand natural products have been chemically characterized but over
knowledge of their distribution throughout 25000 known angiosperm is limited.
Thus it is difficult to reach to certain conclusions on the basis of inadequate
information.