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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Morphological diversity and antioxidant potential of twenty-five traditional paddy landraces from Southern India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13127
Submitted
9 January 2026
Published
28-07-2026 — Updated on 29-09-2026
Versions

Abstract

Traditional rice varieties are nutritionally superior to high yielding cultivars and have historically been utilised in Indian folk medicine for their therapeutic properties. The present study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability by morphological and yield-attributing traits and antioxidant potential of 25 selected traditional rice varieties from various parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala state of India. The results showed that the yield potential of each traditional rice variety was evaluated by determining 1000-grain weight, which ranged from 11.40 g to 30.0 g. The traditional Kattuyanam showed the highest 1000-grain weight, indicating superior yield potential among the other evaluated varieties. The grain lengths varied from 7.16 to 9.50 mm, the grain breadth ranged from 2.50 to 4.16 mm and the thickness ranged from 2.02 to 3.80 mm. Among the investigated traditional rice varieties, Jyothi matta had the largest grain dimensions, with 9.5 mm in length, 4.16 mm in breadth and 3.8 mm in thickness. Furthermore, among the 25 traditional rice varieties, 17 varieties exhibited visible pigmentation and 15 varieties had awns. Additionally, antioxidant activity was determined using the    2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The results showed that pigmented rice varieties like Arubadham kuruvai and Vayanadan jyothi have higher antioxidant activity in all the concentrations, with the highest inhibition percentages reached 79.3 % and 82.1 % at 100 μL.

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