<i>In vitro</i> propagation of <i>Hylocereus monacanthus</i> (Lem.) Britton and Rose

Abstract

The application of tissue culture contributes to the rapid and massive propagation of economically important species and serves as a basic platform for production strategies. The objective of this work was to establish the in vitro propagation of Hylocereus monacanthus (Lem.) Britton and Rose. The seeds were in vitro germinated and then the apical segments containing the apex and areoles were taken and placed in culture medium MS with BAP (1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg l-1) and IAA (0.5 mg l-1) separately and combined for the multiplication phase. For rooting an MS culture medium with different concentrations of inorganic salts (50, 75 and 100%) and IBA (0.1 mg l-1) was used. In vitro plants obtained were planted in greenhouse for their acclimatization. The percentage of seeds germination was 70% with 6% of microbial contamination. With 1 mg l-1 BAP, the best results were obtained for the in vitro multiplication of H. monacanthus. In all treatments 100% of rooted shoots were obtained and only a significant difference was observed for root length with the addition of 0.1 mg l-1 IBA. The average survival of plants transferred to substrate was 97.1%. The results of this work offer an alternative of propagation for H. monacanthus, which will contribute to the establishment of commercial plantations and other studies at the laboratory level. Keywords: pitahaya, shoot tip, cacti