Silver Nitrate and Different Culture Vessels Influence High Frequency Microrhizome Induction In Vitro and Enhancement Growth of Turmeric Plantlet During Ex Vitro Acclimatization

Eleven cultivars of C. longa var. Lakadong were collected from Manipur having different topography. Curcumin content in different cultivars has been analyzed by using UV-Visible Spectrophotometer (100 Bio-Carry Spectrophotometer). The curcuminoids content were analyzed and quantified for identification of best quality cultivar. Thoubal Cultivar with highest curcumin content (9.44%) was subjected for tissue culture technique using different culture vessels and silver nitrate for rapid multiplication and scaling up of microrhizome production. High multiplication rate of 27.40±0.47 were obtained in Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 3% sucrose + 1 mg L-1 α-napthalene acetic acid, 4 mg L-1 6-benzyl-amino-purine and 11 μM silver nitrate. Effect of different culture vessels and silver nitrate were studied for microrhizome and multiple shoots formation. Relatively higher rate of shoots along with microrhizome (17.5±0.32) can be seen in Growtek which was grown without any plant growth regulator. Growtek was used for scaling up of microrhizome production in vitro and utmost microrhizome was produced in liquid Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 8% sucrose, 1 mg L-1 α-napthalene acetic acid, 4 mg L-1 6-benzyl-amino-purine and 11 μM silver nitrate (36.25±0.27). Addition of silver nitrate in the medium resulted in improvement of microrhizome induction in vitro. Higher concentration of silver nitrate (33, 44, 66, 88 μM) negatively affected the microrhizome and shoot multiplication and shows inhibition of tissue response completely. Analysis of in vitro derived plantlets during acclimatization shows that the exogenous applied of silver nitrate shows superior growth as compared to control. 90-95% of plantlets with and 75-80% plantlets without silver nitrate treatment were successfully established under ex vitro acclimatization. The protocol could be utilized for large scale production of true-to-type plantlets and as alternative method to step forward towards an improved commercial propagation system for more efficient and productivity.