Effect of gibberellic acid combined with saponin on shoot elongation of Asparagus officinalis

Abstract

Effect of gibberellic acid (GA3) combined with saponin on shoot elongation of Asparagus officinalis was evaluated in tissue culture. Addition of saponin to GA3 supplemented Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium showed a dose depended effect on shoot length of Asparagus officinalis. However, increasing concentration of saponin above 3.0 mg dm-3 decreased shoot length and showed yellowing and thinning of shoots. Saponin (3.0 mg dm-3) + GA3 (0.2 mg dm-3) mixture treated by variable duration of sonication (0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 min) were evaluated for shoot elongation on MS basal medium. The highest shoot lengths (14.4 ± 0.3 and 15.1 ± 0.1 cm) were found after 5 and 7 min sonication. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.