Abstract:
Anthurium ‘Lady Jane’ which was introduced in Hawaii, is a hybrid plant
belonging to family Araceae with higher market demand as an indoor potted
plant and cut flower due to attractive glossy shape dark green foliage and
colorful flowers. Micro-propagation is used to production of plants to fulfill the
market demand. However, a high cost associated with agar as a solidifying agent
is major drawback in micro-propagation. Therefore, this study was conducted to
identify low cost preferable media and physical matrices for agar in ‘Lady Jane’
production. Effect of Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium with 6-
Benzylaminopurine (BAP) (1 mg/1L) solidified with agar (control experiment)
and liquid medium supported with pure cotton wool on morphological and
quality parameters of ‘Lady Jane’ plants were investigated. Six-month old ‘Lady
Jane’ plantlets grown in-vitro were used as explants. Leaf color, stiffness of the
leaves and strength of the stem were considered. Data were recorded at three week intervals up to two months. Data were analyzed through one-sample
Wilcoxson sign rank test by IBM SPSS software. Result showed better
performance for both liquid and solid medium. Plantlets in Liquid and Solid
medium both are appear healthier and greener. Cost analysis showed that 140
Rs/ liter of medium could be reduced by using pure cotton wool in a liquid
medium instead of solid medium with agar. Parametrical measurements showed
better performance for liquid media. Final results indicated the liquid media is
better for production of higher number of healthy ‘Lady Jane’ plantlets.
