Developing a successful micropropagation for Albizia myriophylla Benth

Abstract

Albizia myriophylla Benth. (Cha Em Thai) is a native medicinal plant in northeastern Thailand. It has a sweet flavor and its functions include resolving dental caries, aphthous ulcers and coughs. The purpose of this study was to create a clean culture for mass propagation of planting material. Initially, lateral buds were surface sterilized with 10 and 15% Clorox®, respectively. Results showed 40% of the sterilized material survival as explants. These buds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS). After culturing for four weeks, the lateral buds develop white callus tissue (60%) and young shoots (30%). Furthermore, young seeds were sterilized with 10-15% Clorox®, then cultured on semi-solid Woody Plant Medium (WPM) or MS medium with or without BA. The results showed a significant difference at the p<0.05 level. The highest survival rate of 97.5% and a germination rate of 82.5% was achieved when cultured on MS medium with 4 mg L-1 BA. In addition, after surface disinfecting mature seeds with 3% hydrogen peroxide, they were cultured for three weeks in a semi solid liquid MS, containing 0, 2 and 4 mg L-1 BA. Furthermore, the MS medium received 0.1 mg L-1 NAA and 4 mg L-1 BA. The PGRs free WPM media were cultured for three weeks. Findings showed the highest survival rate of 70% was from seeds culture on semi-solid MS medium containing 2 mg L-1 BA. However, the highest germination rate of 62.5% was significantly different at the p<0.05 level when cultured in PGRs free liquid MS medium.