MICROPROPAGATION OF ZINGIBER CASSUMUNAR ROXB.

Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. is a medicinal plant which contains volatile oils known for its effectiveness in anti-inflammatory activity. It is propagated vegetatively by rhizomes. However, rhizomes in storage are susceptible to pathogens causing limited supplies for high - quality rhizomes. The quality of volatile oil obtained from the rhizomes also varies with plant age. Therefore, a method which could produce pathogen - free plants of the same age with high-quality volatile oil would provide a substantial supply of volatile oil for pharmaceutical industries. This paper reports the use of micropropagation as an alternative method in producing large number of pathogen - free plants.

Antibiotics such as amoxicillin, neomycin, chloramphenicol, and cloxacillin were used as sterilizing agents for excised shoot tips. Shoot tips were then cultured on LS medium supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 mgL^-1 NAA in combination with 0, 1, 2, 4 mgL^-1 BAP and 20 gL^-1 sucrose.

The use of antibiotics as a sterilizing agent increased the survival rate of cultured shoot tips up to more than 10 percent compared to the control. Each shoot tip placed on LS medium supplemented with 4 mgL^-1 BAP produce the average of 13 shoots within eight weeks. The controls did not grow well and did not produced many plantlets. Some shoots produced protocorm - like structures near the base of the shoot tips. These structures grew into plantlets after subsequent transfers. Root formation was readily when shoots were transferred to the same medium or to a medium with low concentration of NAA. Addition of activated charcoal to a medium without growth regulator enhanced root formation and plant growth as well. Plantlets of approximately 5 cm high were transferred to soil. Clones derived from tissue culture will be selected for high volatile oil content.