Abstract

MATOS, Eduardo; MARCANO, María; AZOCAR, Carmen Julia  and  MORA, Argenis. In vitro multiplication of five cultivars of white carrot (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancroft) collected in Venezuela. Bioagro [online]. 2015, vol.27, n.2, pp.121-130. ISSN 1316-3361.

Arracacha or white carrot (Arracacia xanthorriza Bancroft) is a plant from the Apiaceae family, native of The Andes, which presents edible storage roots of considerable nutritive value and appreciated flavor; thus, it has been recognized as a crop with a high potential, especially in developing countries. Various efforts to assay the feasibility of in vitro propagation of this species have been reported. The present investigation is a first attempt to determine appropriate conditions to micropropagate five arracacha cultivars collected in Venezuela. For this purpose, 4 mm shoot tips were extracted from cormels and were aseptically established in two different media: Murashige and Skoog culture media supplemented with 1 mg·L^-1 BA and 0.1 mg·L^-1 ANA, and B5 media with 0.3 mg·L^-1 BA and 0.1 mg·L^-1 ANA, exposed to 16 h of light and 8 h of darkness, 22-26 °C and 30 µmol·m^-2·s^-1 of irradiance. The number of regenerated shoots, growth, and tissue characteristics were evaluated during 6 weeks. Anova and means tests were conducted for quantitative variables and X² tests for qualitative ones. Significant differences observed among cultivars were the number of shoots and growth rates, with a maximum of 4 shoots with 21 mm length. The only significant effect of the culture media detected was on shoot growth. Callus formation was observed in all treatments by the second week with further desiccation of tissues that was dependent on the cultivar.

Keywords : Apiaceae; callus formation; desiccation of tissue; tissue culture.

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