ACCELERATED MICROPROPAGATION OF BANANA SPECIES (MUSA SSP. - CAVENDISH)

ROBLES C.H., FERNÁNDEZ C.E.

Abstract
The majority of edible Musaceas does not produce seeds, they reproduce asexually offshoots or mother shoots. However, the number of offshoots that can be obtained through the conventional method is relatively small and also facilitates spreading of pest and diseases. Since the banana plantation area has been increasing in the last few years, the demand for greater amount of new plants is required. Recent in vitro technique - microprogation - permits to obtain a high quantity of plants from little material in a short period of time. As results, the needs of farmers (bananeros) can be met with a safe material from both quantitative as well as qualitative point of view.
This research focusus on the optimization of cultivation media for an accelerated multiplication of banana in vitro conditions. Among other things, we utilized the influence of some phytoregulators (BAP, NAA) on the shooting and rooting of in vitro plants. The results of our experiments demonstrated that the optimum concentration for shooting stimulation of banana crop in vitro conditions (from the formation of offshoots to explant point of view) is 6 mg/l of BAP in the MS medium and for rooting 3 mg/l of BAP + 1 mg/l of NAA in MS medium.

Keywords:
Musa sp., banana, micropropagation, in vitro, ex vitro, media optimization

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