Effect of propolis formulation on culture medium for potato micropropagation

Abstract

In the efforts to improve the quality of the plants in the in vitro culture, different alternatives have been tested and put into practice going from the increasing of the asepsis measures, chemical treatment of the plants donors, to the subculture of plants in cultures media with antimicrobial products of synthetic or natural origin. At the Institute of Plants Biotechnology, at the Central University of Las Villas, the influence of a formulation of propolis was evaluated on the growth and multiplication of in vitro plants of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) from Desirée variety. The phytotoxic effect of this product in culture media was determined in the in vitro multiplication phase, and dilutions of the propolis were made to obtain concentrations from 1 to 200 ppm in ranges of 10 units. After the phytotoxic evaluation the adequate propolis working dose was applied during three subcultures in the in vitro multiplication phase in a comparative way with two treatments; culture medium elaborated with ebullition methods for five minutes. A subculture was also carried out in the in vitro rooting phase and the behavior of these plants in the acclimatization phase was evaluated. Alterations in levels superior to 80 ppm were observed in the morphologic variables evaluated. The treatment with the formulation of propoli presented significantly superior results than control. Key words: aclimatization, multiplication, rooting