TITLE:
Effect of Different Concentrations of Orange Juice for in Vitro Regeneration and Multiplication of Cocoyam (Taro)
AUTHORS:
Alfred O. Ubalua, Ahamefula I. Ikpeama, Onyinyechi D. Okeagu
KEYWORDS:
Taro, Orange Juice, Shoot Explants, In Vitro Regeneration, Rapid Multiplication
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.6 No.16,
October
21,
2015
ABSTRACT: Taro (Colocasia esculenta) and tannia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) are commonly referred to as
cocoyam in Nigeria. They are cherished for their rich taste, nutritional and medicinal properties.
Traditionally, cocoyams are vegetatively propagated from tuber fragments, a practice that encourages
pathogen distribution. For rapid multiplication and production of quality planting materials,
tissue culture technology offers promising alternative compared to the traditional production methods.
In this study different concentrations of ripped sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) juice were
screened for regeneration and multiplication of 2 months old in vitro cocoyam shoot explants.
Among the concentrations, maximum numbers of roots (37 ± 5) were observed in Murashige and
Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 10% orange juice after 8 weeks in culture compared to 16
± 4 (roots) observed in the control medium. On shoot multiplicity, 16 ± 3 shoots were induced in
the control medium in contrast to 12 ± 0.8 shoots in the MS medium supplemented with 10%
orange juice after 8 weeks of culture. Higher concentrations (25% and 35%) of the orange juice
supplemented medium resulted in concomitant inhibition of all the growth parameters. The study
successfully established that ripped orange juice could substitute the use of conventional growth
hormones cytokinins (BAP) and auxins (NAA) in in vitro regeneration and rapid multiplication of
cocoyam shoot explants.