Potential to use Colocasia esculenta (L) and Ipomoea batatas as solidifying agent in plant tissue culture.

Abstract

In-vitro propagation is a rapid multiplication technique to produce planting materials. Agar is commonly used gelling agents for in-vitro propagation of banana and other crop varieties. But agar is more expensive. Planting material can be produced quickly using the technique of in-vitro propagation. Even though it is expensive, agar is a popular gelling agent for diverse crop varieties to be propagated in vitro. This study was conducted to propose a cost-effective and locally available alternative gelling agent for in-vitro propagation of banana. The objective of the study was to find out a locally available, cost-effective gelling agent for banana in vitro propagation. Two different locally available crop varieties, “Taro root” (Colocasia esculenta (L) and “Sweet potato” (Ipomoea batatas) were used for the experiment and this study was conducted under five experiments. According to experiment 1, the best powder preparation method is normal starch extraction method. According to that method, get raw taro roots and sweet potato pieces and grind them using water. After that, using a muslin cloth, separate the starch. Experiment 2 was to determine the solubility ability and soluble temperature of Taro roots and sweet potato and the both the varieties were properly dissolved with water. In the second experiment, the solubility potential and temperature of the solvent were measured, and both varieties were successfully dissolved in water. Their best soluble temperature was 70°C for both taro roots and sweet potato solution. The results of the third experiment revealed that 100 g/L of taro roots and 80 g/L of sweet potato were the best concentration for solidifying the MS medium as instead of agar. According to visual observation MS + 100g/L of taro roots powder and MS + 80g/L of sweet potato powder a solid form from a day after the media preparation. This solid form did not change even in the eighth week. Further any biological contamination and color change were not noticed in both media, for 4 weeks. Even after eight weeks, there was no change in this solid form, and during the four weeks, no biological contamination or a change in color was observed in both medium. According to the cost analysis taro root and sweet potato medium are cost effective than agar medium. Taro root medium and sweet potato medium had a cost reduction of 91.6% and 90%, respectively, compared to agar medium. It can be concluded that sweet potatoes and taro root are cost effective gelling agents that serve as a good alternative for agar in tissue culture medium in banana plants.