Medicinal plants have gained great importance in recent years due to their demand in the industry for human and animal welfare and their attractive market prices. India is called the 'Botanical Garden' of the world due to its varied climatic ecosystem which is suitable for growing medicinal plants. India, one of the 12 most biodiverse countries in the world, must conserve its resources where they are exploited and must be cultivated commercially to avoid their risk of extinction due to indiscriminate use. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayAmong the different medicinal plants, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (winter cherry, Ashwagandha or Asgandh) of the Solanaceae family is an important medicinal plant which finds extensive use as a potential herb in traditional medicine system like 'rasayana' and 'medhya rasayana'. The similarities between Ashwagandha roots and ginseng roots have led to it being called Indian ginseng. somnifera is a genetically simple species (2n = 48; n = 24; largely self-pollinated) most suited to the development of cultivars for the commercial production of new sterols and alkaloids (Singh and Kumar 1998). It grows in dry and subtropical regions. The major Ashwagandha producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra, among which Madhya Pradesh alone has over 4,000 ha of land area. cultivate. Due to the presence of alkaloids in the roots, leaves and seeds, these are used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and Unani medicines to combat a wide range of diseases, from tuberculosis to arthritis. A significant part of ashwagandha resides in its roots, followed by the leaves and berries due to the presence of “Withanolides”. The major biochemical constituents of W. somnifera are steroidal alkaloids and lactones, a class of constituents known as withanolides (steroidal lactones with an ergostane backbone). Ongoing animal trials and research support the role of ashwagandha root and leaf extracts in different disorders and diseases. and have properties such as anti-cancer, antioxidant, etc. and act as a source of a restorative medicine. Molecular markers are not affected by physiological state and environmental factors, which explains their wide application in the assessment of genetic diversity among W. somnifera (L.) Dunal genotypes. and identify duplicate accessions in germplasm collections. For the same reason, molecular markers are reliable for informative polymorphisms since the genetic composition is unique for each species. The most important development has taken place in the field of molecular genetics with the emergence of molecular markers, because for breeders it is an effective tool to study new sources of variation and quantitatively controlling genetic factors inherited characters. These markers are used for the detection and exploitation of DNA polymorphism (Semagn et al. 2010). To differentiate plants at the inter- and/or intra-specific level, genetic polymorphism plays an important role, not only in medicinal plants but also in cereal, commercial, plantation and horticultural crops. The most important role of conservation is to preserve the process of genetic diversity. and development in viable population ecology and varieties/genotypes,.