Abstract

Morphological characterization was carried out on Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) accessions collected from different locations in India. The experiments were conducted on 12 Aloe accessions and the leaf length, width, thickness, stem length, and thickness were measured using vernier calipers. The plantlets were chemically treated with 2.5% (w/v) of sodium hypochlorite which is an alternative safer surface sterilization method for replacement of mercury chloride by using shoot tip as explants. The sterilization results indicate that the highest number (93%) of viable explants (10) with the best regeneration potential was in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium compared with other treatments. Multiple shoots/explants (35) were found in MS medium containing 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP, 1.5 mgL^-1; kinetin (0.5 mgL^-1), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA, 0.2 mg L^-1), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, 0.1 mg L^-1), and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 0.2 mg L^-1). Based on the shoot proliferation, a maximum number (87.89%) of shoots obtained from the micro-shoot culture method and a maximum number (91.12%) of roots were obtained on MS medium supplemented with NAA (0.2 mg L^-1), IBA (0.2 mgL^-1) and IAA (0.1 mgL^-1) which was found to be the best. The healthy rooted plantlets were successfully transferred and obtained as the plants were of 100% survival. The regenerated plants were morphologically similar to the mother plant.

Key words: Aloe vera, morphology, micro propagation, sodium hypochlorite, shoot tips, efficient method, medicinal plant.