Enhanced Growth and Development of Cymbidium and Phalaenopsis Plantlets Cultured In Vitro Under Light-Emitting Diodes

Abstract

The diversity and beauty of orchids place them among the top flowering plants in the international market. They are commercialized either as cut flowers or potted plants. With over 25,000 estimated known species and over 100,000 hybrids developed, they represent about 10% of all flowering plants. The development of feasible techniques for the conservation of orchid material with low maintenance costs, greater storage time, and good phytosanitary conditions is essential for the conservation of species as well as commercial use of hybrids. Cryopreservation is a technique that involves the conservation of biological material at ultra-low temperatures, generally at −196 °C in liquid nitrogen or at −150 °C in nitrogen’s vapor phase. Currently, this is the only feasible technique for the long-term preservation of genetic material from plants that are vegetatively propagated, or with unviable or recalcitrant seeds. Due to the large diversity of orchids, this is a developing and relevant field that requires continued research and development of improved techniques according to the species and/or hybrid. In this chapter, we present simple methods and their applications for the cryopreservation of orchid seeds, protocorms, and pollen.