Abstract:
Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. commonly known as ‘beli’ in Sri Lanka is an important
fruit tree with extensive medicinal uses in the indigenous medicine systems. All
parts of this plant can be used to treat various diseases. Aegle marmelos root is one
of the main ingredients of popular ayurvedic preparations. The plant is
conventionally propagated by seeds which have short viability and low
germination percentage. Vegetative propagation through root suckers is slow and
challenging. Root being the major medicinally useful part, destructive harvesting
poses a serious threat to the sustenance of the tree. Therefore, this study aimed to
develop a suitable multiple shoot induction protocol through in-vitro derived shoot
tips. Seeds were sterilized with 5% Clorox for 5 minutes and established in
Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium to obtain shoot tips. For shoot multiplication,
in-vitro derived shoot tips were transferred into MS medium supplemented with
two different concentrations of Thidiazuron (0.25 mg/L -0.5 mg/L) and various
combinations and concentrations of 6-benzyl amino purine (1 mg/L – 2 mg/L) and
kinetin (0.5 mg/L – 1 mg/L). The study was carried out in Completely Randomized
Design (CRD) with five replicates and each replicates contained five shoot tips
established in separate culture vessels. Data were recorded as the number of shoots
per shoot tip and the length of shoots. The highest total shoot length (10.6 cm) was
observed in MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-benzyl amino purine and 1
mg/L kinetin. But the value was not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) than 2 mg/L
6-benzylaminopurine and 0.5 mg/L kinetin.The highest shoot proliferation rate
(17) was observed in MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine
and 1 mg/L kinetin and the value was significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from all other
treatments. The highest shoot proliferation rate was observed after five weeks from
culture initiation. The findings of the study can be used for future in-vitro
propagation studies of Aegle marmelos.
