Jatropha curcas L. and Ricinus communis L.: In vitro Plant Propagation from Shoot Tip Explants for Commercial Cultivation and Biofuel Production

In vitro propagation was achieved from shoot tip explants of 4 months old bioenergy crops, Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) and castor bean (Ricinus communis) plants. In both genotypes, propagation from shoot tip was evaluated on a range of concentrations of Benzyl adenine (BA) combined with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) as 2.22 μM BA and 4.9 μM IBA, 1.11 μM BA and 0.48 μM IBA, 0.42 μM BA and 0.46 μM IBA and 0.44 μM BA and 0.44 μM IBA. Higher regeneration potential that direct adventitious shoot induction was recorded highest in Jatropha on MS medium with 2.22 μM BA and 4.9 μM IBA while in castor bean on MS medium with 1.11 μM BA and 0.48 μM IBA. Regenerated shoots, rooted on half strength MS medium supplemented with IBA (0.5 μM). Following simple hardening procedures, the in vitro raised plants were transferred to soil for commercial cultivation and grown to maturity for seed production from which crude oil were obtained.