In vitro propagation of Ximenia americana L. from shoot tip explants: a multipurpose medicinal plant

Abstract

Ximenia americana L. is among the most important multipurpose medicinal plants.It is highly vulnerable plant in Ethiopia due to overexploitation for different purposes, especially using the roots and barks for medicinal purposes.Seed germination is very poor and identical clones of superior quality plants cannot be obtained in nature as it is dioecious species. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop in vitro propagation protocol for X. americana. After seed sterilization and germination, shoot tips from in vitro germinated seeds were cultured on ms (Murashige and Skoog) medium supplemented with different concentrations of benzyl amino purine (bap) or kinetin. For shoot multiplication, the initiated shoots were cultured on ms medium containing different concentrations of kinetin or bap in combination with a-naphthalene acetic acid (naa). Multiplied shoots were cultured on half strength ms medium supplemented with different concentrations of indole butyric acid (iba) or naa for rooting. The highest mean shoot number per explant (4.16 ± 0.17) was obtained on msmedium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l bap. The best rooting was obtained on half strength ms medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l iba with 3.36 ± 0.69 roots per shoot and 2.21 ± 0.40 cm root length on medium containing 2.0 mg/l iba and established in greenhouse with 100% survival. The results of this study are important for mass propagation of superior genotypes, rehabilitation in natural habitat and conservation of this threatened multipurpose plant.