Low-Cost Alternatives for Conventional Tissue Culture Media

Abstract

The low cost alternative components of tissue culture media were evaluated for their potential to supply nutrients and to support growing explant of Banana cultivar in vitro for their cost effectiveness against conventional high cost media. The Murashigeand Skoog (MS) salts and sucrose were replaced by vermicompost (50 g/L), table sugar (30 g/L) and coconut water (70 ml/L), and agar was replaced by filter paper, sand and wheat floor. The conventional MS medium supplemented with 30 g/L sucrose and 8 g/L agar was used as control. A banana cultivar was regenerated on control and combinations of alternative components. MS salts in combination with filter paper as solid matrix was found as very efficient for shoot induction, multiplication and root formation with reducing the cost upto 58.13 %.Vermicompost as nutritive source was found to be very effective in reducing cost of media per plantlet. Table sugar reduced the cost of carbon source drastically by 97 %.Use of such alternatives can reduce the cost of media thereby minimizing the production cost of tissue cultured plantlets.