Two varieties betel vine (Piper betle L.) locally called as Chandrakana Pan and Bali Pan have been traditionally cultivated as a cash crop in the Bhogarai area of Balasore district of the state of Odisha, India. In the present study, leaf extracts obtained from the two varieties, have been evaluated for various eco-physiological parameters such as total chlorophyll content, protein content and peroxidase activity of healthy as well as diseased leaves (foot rot, leaf spot and powdery mildew) and the results have been discussed. Total chlorophyll content, protein content and peroxidase activity of healthy leaf of Chandrakana Pan is 2.065 mg g ˗1, 1.7 mg g ˗1 and 0.004 μkat g ˗1 respectively whereas the corresponding values for Bali Pan are 2.513 mg g ˗1, 3.9 mg g ˗1 and 0.003 μkat g ˗1 respectively. Powdery mildew diseased leaves of Chandrakana Pan, showed reduction of chlorophyll content and protein to 39 % and 59 % respectively whereas Bali Pan showed reduction of the same parameters to 35 % and 5 % respectively. Moreover, the peroxidase activity of the diseased leaves of Chandrakana Pan was found to be higher than that of Bali Pan. Thus, under diseased condition, Chandrakana Pan showed relatively better results for all the three parameters, and all the three studied diseases, indicating that Chandrakana variety is more disease resistant in the studied agro-climatic region.
