Isolation of DNA from okra leaves is difficult due to high level of mucilage and polyphenols which interfere with
pure DNA isolation. Different degrees of mild and fire type bands appear indicating high level of polysaccharides
and polyphenols in standard Doyle & Doyle (1987) method [22] (Fig.1A). In the present study, a modified Doyle
and Doyle (1987) protocol yielded good quality DNA. Increased the volume of DNA extraction buffer and decrease
the amount of plant material help to remove majority of polysaccharides with high salt concentration [23, 24].
Concentration of 5M NaCl add to the suspension in the lysis step did result in the highest yields of total genomic
DNA [25, 26]. Salt use during precipitation of DNA increase solubility of polysaccharides in ethanol thus
preventing co-precipitation with DNA [25]. PVP bind effectively to polyphenols compounds which can the
separated from DNA by centrifugation [27]. The presence of oxidized phenolic compounds can be reduced further
by keeping plant material frozen during homogenization [28]. This is achieved by grinding fresh material in a mortar
with under liquid nitrogen. Results from agarose gel electrophoresis show robust and smiling bands of DNA
(Fig.1B). The quantity was further estimated by spectrophotometer absorbance ratio OD260/OD280, which varied