TITLE:
The in Vitro Propagation Techniques for Producing Banana Using Shoot Tip Cultures
AUTHORS:
Munguatosha Ngomuo, Emerald Mneney, Patrick A. Ndakidemi
KEYWORDS:
Antioxidants, Auxins, Bud Splitting, Cytokinins, Media Composition, Oxidative Browning
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.11,
May
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Banana is an important food
crop and the second most important fruit crop. Despite the significant
commercial value of the crop, the main production constrain is the availability
of reliable and safe planting material. The planting materials obtained through
conventional methods (suckers) do not meet the increasing demand for planting
and they are of poor quality. Tissue culture is the approach which can solve
these problems. Micro propagation of the crop is also faced with challenges
which need to be addressed in order to improve its production. Some of the
problems which hinder the success of the crop include oxidative browning of the
wounded tissues and low number of shoots produce per explant. This review
highlights the challenges encountered in tissue culture of banana and explores
the in vitro propagation techniques
by using shoot tip cultures of banana as the possibilities to overcome these
problems.