Abstract

Gloriosa superba L., a climber belonging to the family, Colchicaceae is a high value medicinal plant cultivated in Tamil Nadu. Colchicine is one major tropalone alkaloids of medicinal importance which cures gout, cancer, rheumatism. Vegetative propagation through V or L shaped tubers is a commonly followed practice but is considered slow with poor multiplication ratio of 1: 1 every year. The cost involved towards planting material (800 kg of tubers/acre) alone accounts to 2.0 lakhs at Rs. 250 per kg of tuber prevailing for the last three years. In this context, a suitable protocol for in vitro tuberisation using non-dormant tubers of Gloriosa superba L. on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with various concentrations growth regulators have been reported in the present study. Sprouted tuber node explants were sterilized with 70% ethanol for 30 s followed by 60 s in HgCl₂ which reduced the contamination percentage (8.00%). MS medium supplemented with 4.0 mgL^-1BAP and 1.0 mgL^-1 NAA recorded the highest response for primary tuber (100%) and secondary tuber (100%) formation. This also recorded the maximum number of tuber (1.77) from single explants. GA₃ (1.0 mgL^-1) was observed to be vital for the elongation of shoot whereas, IAA (1.0 mgL^-1) in combination with IBA (0.5 mgL^-1) was effective for induction of roots on MS medium.

Key words: Glory lily, ms medium, tuber node, shooting, rooting, primary tubers.