Abstract:
The Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata) is a commercially significant cultivar in the global
horticultural market and is extensively propagated using plant tissue culture techniques. In this
technique, Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) are used to enhance rapid propagation for large-scale
production. One such PGR, N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), a synthetic cytokinin, has gained
attention for its effects on plant growth and development in tissue culture. The objective of the
present study was to evaluate the effects of different BAP concentrations on in vitro shoot
multiplication of Cavendish banana. One-month-old in-vitro banana plantlets were used as
explants and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media series, supplemented with a constant
2.0 ppm of Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and varying concentrations of BAP (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 ppm).
Cultures were maintained at 26±1oC under a 16-hour photoperiod. After 30 days of culture, shoot
number, leaf number, and highest shoot height (cm) were measured. The experiment followed a
Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates per treatment, and each replicate
consisted of four explants. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. The results
revealed that shoot proliferation and elongation were significantly greater with rising BAP
concentrations. BAP concentrations below 2 ppm did not significantly differ from the control in
shoot proliferation. The optimum concentration of BAP was found to be 6 ppm for Cavendish
plantlets, which produced an average of 1.60 new shoots per explant, 4.50 leaves and a shoot
height of 4.40 cm, with a 100% survival rate. Shoot emergence typically began after 12–15 days
in 6 ppm BAP medium, while delays were noted in both lower and higher concentrations.
Additionally, BAP concentrations above 6 ppm resulted in reduced shoot proliferation and lower
plantlet survival rates. It is recommended that future research explore the synergistic effects of
BAP with auxins such as IAA or NAA and genotype-specific responses to improve multiplication
efficiency and support varietal micropropagation protocols.
