In vitro CALLOGENESIS OF MEDICINALLY IMPORTANT AYURVEDIC HERB Enicostema littorale BLUME

Purpose: The practice of in vitro culturing of medicinally important plants has gained much attention in enhancing the secondary metabolite production. In this perspective, the current study was carried out to promote a rapid and standard method for in vitro callogenesis of Enicostema littorale Blume using different explants.

Research Methods: In vitro callogenesis of Enicostema littorale was done on Murashige and Skoog’s media. Explants were cautiously sterilised and later put on MS medium added with variable combinations and combinations of growth regulators and were maintained in culture room at temperature of 25 ± 2ºC with photoperiods of 16 h. The cultures were observed at regular intervals for callus initiation and results were recorded regularly.

Findings: Maximum callus was yielded from nodal explants when Murashige and Skoog medium was added with various growth promoters (6-Benzylaminopurine and Kinetin -3.0 and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid -1.5 mg each followed by Kinetin-2.0 and Naphthyl Acetic Acid -0.5 mg) per liter amount of media. Similarly, it was also revealed from the present investigation that leaf explants proved better for callogenesis on MS media added with 6-Benzylaminopurine-3.0 and Naphthyl Acetic Acid -1.0 mg/l followed by Kinetin-1.5 and NAA-0.5 mg/l. However, shoot tip explants weakly responded for callogenic induction during the present study. The present study while using combinations of growth regulators at different concentrations and combinations, all the selected explants responded distinctly.

Value: The developed tissue culture protocol can be proved as rapid and reliable method for enhancing and extracting the secondary metabolite production, and as a landmark to meet the industrial need in the near future.