Micropropagation of Nendran and Poovan varieties of Musa through Inflorescence Tip Culture

Determinate male inflorescence tips of nendran cultivar variety of banana cultured on modified MS medium supplemented with 4% sugar and 3 mg/l BAP induced normal buds within 120 days of culture. Indeterminate male inflorescence tips of poovan cultivar variety of banana cultured on modified MS medium with 3 mg/l BAP and 160 mg/l adenine sulphate regenerated vegetative buds within 150 days of culture. In nendran the concentration of sugar was found to be critical, while in poovan, the concentration of BAP and adenine sulphate was observed to be essential. In nendran the shoots were elongated in medium containing 3 mg/l IBA and 1.5 mg/l BAP and 3% sucrose and rooted in medium with 3 mg/l IBA and 0.5 mg/l BAP. The shoots produced were morphologically identical to those originating from vegetative apices as long as they were maintained in culture conditions. The effects of the size of the explants on regeneration of plantlets were also studied. Field trials were conducted and a few somaclonal variants were identified in both varieties.