Browsing by Author "Anamika Singh"

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Adaptations of culturally and nutritionally important traditional foods in Eastern Himalaya: A case study with Adi women of Arunachal Pradesh
(2012) Anamika Singh; Ranjay K. Singh; Rakesh Bhardwaj; A.K. Singh
Adi tribal women living in far-flung areas of mountainous ecosystems of Arunachal Pradesh have evolved tremendous amount of traditionally knowledge (TK) to identify, collect, process and use biological resources as foods, nutrition and ethnomedicines. In this article, we discuss about the use of culturally important indigenous biodiversity used by Adi women as food, nutrition and ethnomedicines. Data reported in this study is based on three projects completed with Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. Information pertaining to study was collected using conventional and participatory methods. Results reveal that Adi women are knowledgeable in accessing indigenous biodiversity to use in making culturally, nutritionally and medicinally rich foods. A number of uncultivated indigenous plants and crop resources are adapted to prepare traditional foods. Beside, a large number of wild animals and insects are integral part of food system. Most of the foods are consumed in boiled forms, fermented and alcoholic beverages. Few most commonly consumed indigenous plants are onger (Zanthoxylum rhetsa), poi (Basella rubra), dhenkia saag (Diplazium esculentum), marsang (Spilanthes acmella), ongin (Clerodendrum colebrookianum), kalmu (a creeper) and rori (a herb) and considered most dependable food plants. These ethnobotanicals are source of income and as well as the part of adaptive strategies on food security during the climatic variability. The other species such as banko, champa, fayong, gende, kekir, kopi, koppir, kordoi, mamang, marshang, onger, ongin, oyik, paput, etc. are observed as part of both food and ethnomedicines. A number of fermented foods and alcoholic traditional beverages are consumed by Adi tribe, and make them novel in food habits from others. Adi have rich socio-cultural capitals to sustain adaptive practices associated with traditional foods.
Biodiversity and recipe contests: Innovative socioecological approaches to capture ecological knowledge and conserve biodiversity in Arunachal Pradesh
(2013) Ranjay K. Singh; Anamika Singh
Despite the continued efforts being made by government and policy makers to articulate ways of preserving biodiversity and its associated knowledge systems, a limited success has been recorded in environmental learning for conservation. The 'biodiversity contests' among younger generations of native people, and 'recipe contests' of uncommon forest plants and field crops among rural women are two important methods that have been devised to reduce erosion of indigenous biodiversity based knowledge systems. This paper demonstrates about the contests based approaches applied in mobilizing rural and school children, and elders of Adi tribe to enhance their ecological knowledge about local plant species. These contests were organized among Adi school children and rural women, respectively of East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Different events including radio talks, public meetings, contact with key individuals, circulation of posters and pamphlets and group discussions were organized to sensitize the members about events. In second phase, individual schools and villages were contacted to set-up the biodiversity and recipe contests. Results indicated that school children demonstrated encouraging results by presenting systematic herbaria of local plants, including uses, ecology and source of learning. The children from rural backgrounds had more knowledge than those from more settled areas, and were able to contribute more than 100 forest and semi-forest plants in their collections. Sampling and preparation of herbarium excelled knowledge among children about local species. Creation of vertical knowledge networks among school children, and group contests resulted in revealing more knowledge about local biodiversity as compared to individual participation, thus reflecting synergism. During recipe contests, Adi women showed a sound knowledge of local biodiversity, presenting as traditional foods with more than 50 indigenous forest based plants, many of which are locally uncommon. Significantly, the Gaon Burha (village headman) helped in diffusion of knowledge on plants and expanding learning networks created by children and women. It is concluded that creating a platform on which contests based ecological knowledge of community is collaborated with formal knowledge systems, can ultimately contribute in conserving biodiversity more sustainably.
Comparative response of seedlings of selected native dry tropical and alien invasive species to CO2 enrichment
(2009) Purnima Raizada; Anamika Singh; A.S. Raghubanshi
Aims Global climate change and ongoing plant invasion are the two prominent ecological issues threatening biodiversity world wide. Among invasive species, Lantana camara and Hyptis suaveolens are the two most important invaders in the dry deciduous forest in India. We monitored the growth of these two invasive species and seedlings of four native dry deciduous species (Acacia catechu, Bauhinia variegata, Dalbergia latifolia and Tectona grandis) under ambient (375-395 μ mol mol-1) and elevated CO2 (700-750 μ mol mol-1) to study the differential growth response of invasive and native seedlings. Methods Seedlings of all the species were exposed to ambient and elevated CO2. After 60 days of exposure, seedlings were harvested and all the growth-related parameters like plant height; biomass of root, stem and leaves; total seedling biomass; R/S ratio; allocation parameters; net assimilation rate (NAR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were determined. Important Findings Biomass, RGR and NAR of all the species increased under elevated CO2 but the increase was higher in invasive species and they formed larger seedlings than natives. Therefore under the CO 2-enriched future atmosphere, competitive hierarchies could change and may interfere with the species composition of the invaded area.
Dynamics of the functional groups in the weed flora of dryland and irrigated agroecosystems in the Gangetic plains of India
(2008) Anamika Singh; Gyan P. Sharma; Akhilesh S. Raghubanshi
The relative abundance of the weed functional types in dryland and irrigated rice in the Kharif (summer) crop field and dryland lentil and wheat in the irrigated Rabi (winter) crop field was studied at the agricultural farm of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. A total of 22 species, belonging to 17 families, was recorded in the dryland and irrigated rice ecosystems and 18 species, belonging to eight families, were recorded in the dryland lentil and irrigated wheat ecosystems. The Importance Value Index (IVI) of the hemicryptophytes showed an increasing trend with the crop growth period in the case of the dryland rice, whereas in the irrigated rice plots, a reduction in the IVI of the hemicryptophytes, with a related increase in the importance of the therophytes, was observed as the crop attained maturity. Also, the trend of a decreased IVI was observed for the geophytes in the fertilized dryland rice plots. The principal components analysis (PCA) ordination showed the uniqueness of the crop plot in terms of weed species composition. The PCA analysis of the functional types on the basis of the crop plots indicated that the hemicryptophyte and therophyte weed species composition was heavily altered at the initial and final sampling, although the weed flora was dominated by the therophytes and geophytes. These results suggest the prioritization of hierarchical temporal management options for the functional weed types in different crop plots and that this approach warrants further investigation. © 2008 The Authors.
Effect of water stress on seedling growth of four tropical dry deciduous tree species under an elevated CO2 regime
(2007) Anamika Singh; Purnima Raizada; A.S. Raghubanshi
[No abstract available]
Endophytic colonization ability of two deep-water rice endophytes, Pantoea sp. and Ochrobactrum sp. using green fluorescent protein reporter
(2004) Subhash C. Verma; Anamika Singh; Soumitra Paul Chowdhury; Anil K. Tripathi
Colonization ability of the two endophytic bacteria, isolated from surface sterilized seeds of Jaisurya variety of deep-water rice viz., Pantoea sp. and Ochrobactrum sp., was compared after genetically tagging them with a constitutively expressing green fluorescent protein gene (gfp). Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) of hydroponically grown seedlings of Jaisurya rice, inoculated with gfp-tagged endophytes, revealed that both Pantoea sp. and Ochrobactrum sp. colonized the intercellular spaces in the root cortex when inoculated separately. Colonization by gfp-tagged Ochrobactrum sp. was severely inhibited when co-inoculated with an equal number (105 c.f.u. ml -1) of wild type Pantoea sp., but the converse was not true. Pantoea sp. was a more aggressive endophytic colonizer of its host than Ochrobactrum sp. The potential of using GFP reporter and CLSM as tools in evaluating competitive ability of colonization among endophytes is herewith demonstrated.
Gekong-galong-traditional weaving technology of Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh
(2008) Anamika Singh; Ranjay K Singh
The women living in remote areas and dependent on traditional resources have developed appreciating knowledge and skill in weaving and making crafts for their subsistence livelihood in mountain ecosystems. In modernization and rapid acculturation process, this culturally important heritage of women is at risk and eroding. Varieties of culturally and traditionally important dresses are weaved by Adi women. Women are competent in selecting diverse plant biodiversity used in making entire set of gekong-galong (handloom), which requires years of experience. The culture, belief and spiritual aspects are intrinsically attached with weaving technology. Various sources are utilized in making and using thread for weaving like silkworm, indigenous cotton varieties and mechanically made thread available in market. In remote social system, women use local bioresources in preparing the dye and colours. Weaving is one of the major traditional sources of income and livelihood, but younger generation does not show considerable interest in learning and continuing such culturally important practices. A mission mode integrated effort would be required to conserve women wisdom of weaving and making this profession economically viable through value addition, entrepreneurship development, chaining market and economic empowerment. In the paper, traditional weaving and related knowledge systems of purposively selected villages of Padam, Pasi and Minyong subtribes of Adi community Arunachal Pradesh are discussed.
Mainstreaming Local Food Species for Nutritional and Livelihood Security: Insights From Traditional Food Systems of Adi Community of Arunachal Pradesh, India
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Ranjay K. Singh; Rakesh Bhardwaj; Anamika Singh; Temin Payum; Arvind K. Rai; Anshuman Singh; Lobsang Wangchu; Sanjay Upadhyay
This study brings out the critical role of lesser-known local plant species in the food, nutrition and livelihood security of Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Considering women as a major custodian in knowledge and practices on foods, a total of 90 Adi women and 60 key knowledgeable community members (thus a total of 150 participants) were selected from East Siang and Upper Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Data were collected using combination of methods including recipe contest, focus group discussion, personal interviews and laboratory analyses. The results indicated that Adi women were able to identify 39 bioculturally important species from a range of locally available plant species. Used alone or with other foods, these plants remain central to the Adi people's cultural identity and livelihood security. In addition to improving food and nutritional security, these species accessed from different land use systems, are also sold on the local markets to generate decent incomes. Of the species identified by Adi women, 28 were culturally shared and used frequently in food and ethnomedicine. Laboratory analyses of the selected 22 species revealed exceptionally high levels of minerals and other nutrients, such as proteins and anti-oxidants, supporting their traditional use for health benefits. Our study results provide valuable insights to the researchers to explore the vast hidden potential of these and other similar species for improving nutritional well-being of local communities in marginal areas. Adequate policy support is needed to enable Adi and other such marginalized communities to cope with challenges being posed to traditional food systems. © Copyright © 2021 Singh, Bhardwaj, Singh, Payum, Rai, Singh, Wangchu and Upadhyay.
Metabolomics-based predictive biomarkers of oral cancer and its severity in human patients from North India using saliva
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2025) Rahul Yadav; Vyomika Bansal; Anamika Singh; Neeraj Sinha; Preeti Tiwari; Chandan L. Singh
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is frequently the outcome of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), a common possibly premalignant disease. In our study, a cohort of 50 patients with OSCC and OSMF, along with 50 healthy controls, was analyzed to identify significant metabolic differences between the patient and control groups through multivariate statistical analysis using NMR-based metabolomics in saliva samples. The 2D scatter plot of PC1 versus PC2 scores clearly show a distinction between the groups, with the principal component analysis (PCA) explaining 24.6% of the variance. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) demonstrated R2 and Q2 values of 0.94 and 0.90, respectively, indicating a robust model fit. A total of 20 distinct metabolites were identified, including 5 that were up-regulated and 5 that were down-regulated. Univariate ROC curve analysis identified nine salivary metabolites with AUC values exceeding 0.70, including acetone, tryptophan, 5-aminopentanoic acid, betaine, aspartic acid, ethanol, acetoacetate, adipic acid, and citrate. Notably, the distinct presence of three metabolites—acetone, tryptophan, and 5-aminopentanoic acid—yielded AUC values of 0.98123, 0.95358, and 0.91506, respectively. The refined statistical model was subjected to metabolic pathway analysis, revealing interconnected pathways. We were also able to predict the severity of the disease, specifically distinguishing between stage I and stage II OSCC. This differentiation was highlighted by the PCA score plot, which explained 28.6% of the variance. These results were further confirmed by PLS-DA. These insights pave the way for early diagnosis and predicting severity in patients with oral cancer, which will enable better management of the disease. © 2025 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics analysis of drug candidates
(Elsevier, 2021) Satendra Singh; Dev Bukhsh Singh; Budhayash Gautam; Anamika Singh; Namrata Yadav
Pharmacology deals with the activity of the drug in humans and the response of the body to the drug. Designing suitable drug molecules requires comprehensive prediction and analysis of the properties of drug candidates. Pharmacokinetics includes how the body absorbs, distributes, bio-transforms, and excretes drug molecules. Pharmacodynamics deals with the action of drug molecules at the site of action and its effect on the body. In the postgenomic era availability of genomic data of humans, pathogens are helping the designing of suitable drug candidate molecules by using computational and bioinformatics approaches. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters are essential for the designing of potent drug, which is effective at minimum concentration with no or minimum side effect and must not give any toxic reaction. Computer-aided drug designing is becoming one of the most rapidly developing fields. During the postgenomics revolution period, the accessibility of genomic information about humans, pathogens, and plants is exponentially increasing. It became an urgent requirement to effectively store, manage, and retrieve the biological and chemical information for developing tools related to ADMET predictions. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Traditional skill among the Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh
(2008) Ranjay K Singh; Anamika Singh; Hui Tag
The tribal people living in far flung areas dependent on rich biocultural resources have always been curious in exploring the plant resources of their immediate surrounding in order to sustain their traditional livelihood system. After centuries of being in close association with nature, they have developed for themselves the indigenous skill and technology to use these resources in various parts of their life support system. In recent decades, rapid modernization and acculturation process developed in traditional livelihood system of tribal community has practically endangered their age-old biocultural heritage and traditional skills, knowledge and technology in alarming proportion. The paper based on ethnobotanical field work discusses some vital aspects of plant based traditional skills and technology practiced by the rural Adi community of East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. A number of traditional plant based technologies such as handicrafts, fishing and hunting tools, storage items, utensils used in kitchen and foods system, etc. are available among the Adis. While crafting these valuable and low-cost traditional handicraft technologies, the local people are dependent on locally available plant biodiversity conserved in jhum land, kitchen gardens and community forest. Integrated and holistic approach can revive and sustain traditional plant technology through entrepreneurship development, coupled with ecotourism and economic empowerment to the concerned indigenous community.
Women's wisdom and indigenous human healthcare practices
(2009) Ranjay K. Singh; Anamika Singh
In the study, an effort was made to explore the diversities of indigenous knowledge systems pertaining to human health among rural women of the purposively selected villages of eastern part of Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. Data pertaining to study were collected by using the participatory approach, group discussions, participant learning and personal interview methods. Results indicate that women are having their ancestral wisdom to cure many diseases. A range of indigenous fruits and tubers are utilized during drought and food scarcity to meet nutrition requirement for maintaining health. These indigenous practices of health were found to be appropriate on account of low cost, good efficacy and easy local availability.