Abstract

Anchote [Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn.] is an endemic plant with high calcium content grown for its edible tuberous roots in Ethiopia. It is difficult to produce true-to-type anchote plants to sustain tuber quality through propagation by seeds as the plant pollinates both self and cross. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop micropropagation protocol for anchote and to investigate the effect of table sugar on the rate of shoot multiplication as compared to laboratory grade sucrose. Culture was initiated from seedlings on MS-basal medium and the highest number of shoots per explant (13.13±3.90) was obtained on MS medium containing 0.25 mg/L BAP and 0.1 mg/L IBA. The maximum mean root number (7.00±2.75) and root length (5.97±1.13 cm) per explant were obtained on MS medium containing 0.025 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L IBA, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the rate of shoot multiplication between shoots cultured on the medium containing table sugar or laboratory grade sucrose. Among acclimatized plantlets, 68.75% survived. This work showed that BAP and IBA combination is superior to BAP alone in anchote in vitro shoot multiplication and this protocol can be used to produce clean and true-to-type anchote planting materials.

Key words: Anchote dishes, in vitro propagation, table sugar, seed uncoating.