In vitro Propagation of Lagenaria Siceraria: A Plant of the Cucurbitaceae Family with High Medicinal Value

Background and Objective: Lagenaria siceraria is extensively grown as a vegetable crop in tropical and subtropical regions of the world as a source of food and for it’s medicinal potential. The purpose of this research was to determine the optimal conditions for plantlet regeneration of Lagenaria siceraria microshoots on various concentrations of benzyl amino purine and naphthalene acetic acid in vitro.

Materials and Methods: The research was designed as a completely randomized design. Shoot tips of Lagenaria siceraria were surface sterilized with sodium hypochlorite(NaOCl) at different concentrations (0,3,4,5,6 and 7 mg/L) and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) solidified medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) at different concentrations of (0,0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,2.5 and 3.0mg/L) for shoot induction and the obtained shoots were transferred to MS medium containing naphthaleneacetic Acid(NAA) at different concentrations (0,0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,2.5 AND 3.0mg/L) for root induction.

Results: Surface disinfection was optimal after immersion of shoot tips and/or nodal explants in cleaning detergent (5 min), ethanol 70% (1 min), and sodium hypochlorite 5mg/L (15 min). MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L BAP was most effective in inducing shoot multiplication (100%), with an average of 4,33 shoots per explant after 4 weeks. MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L NAA was most appropriate for rooting (100%) with an average of 5.33 roots per shoot after 4 weeks.

Conclusion: shoots sterilized with 5mg/L NaOCl and inoculated in MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/LBAP and 2.0 mg/L NAA were optimal conditions for the surface sterilization, shoot and root induction of Lagenaria siceraria shoots.