WALAILAK JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Volume 15, No. 10, Month OCTOBER, Year 2018, Pages 701 - 710

In vitro propagation of globba schomburgkii hook. f. via bulbil explants

Piyaporn SAENSOUK, Surapon SAENSOUK, Phattaraporn PIMMUEN

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Globba schomburgkii Hook. f. is an attractive ornamental plant of the family Zingiberaceae and is found in Thailand. The center of diversity is found in continental monsoon Asia, where Thailand and neighboring countries are particularly rich in species. The plant is used as an ornamental plant. In Saraburi Province, Thailand, the flowers of Globba are bound together with candles during the Buddhist Lent. The genus Globba comprises 89 species worldwide, while there are 42 species of perennial rhizomatous herbs in Thailand that have uses as dyes, spices, or medicine. Another use of the species in Thailand is as cut flowers or ornamental plants, due to the inflorescences having yellowish bracts [1]. Under the conventional method, Globba species are propagated vegetatively by the underground rhizome, but this is disease susceptible and has a low propagation rate. The plants in the genus Globba are propagated using the underground rhizome, fruit, and bulbil. Considering the present demand (economic value) and propagation problem of the plant, it is necessary to develop a suitable protocol for mass propagation. The tissue culture technique is a suitable method of mass propagation. There are a few reports available that describe the Globba species’ micropropagation, namely, Globba brachyanthera K. Schum. [2], G. sp. [3], Globba magnifica, G. winitii C.H. Wright, G. schomburkii cultivar “Burmese Dancing Girl” [4] and G. marantina L. [5]. In Zingiberaceae, different plant organs have been used as explants for tissue culture: rhizome [6], anther [7], leaves [8], leaf sheath [9], inflorescence bud [10], seeds [11], embryo [4], and bulbil [2]. Only some species of the genus Globba have bulbils, such as G. marantina L., G. flagellaris Larsen, and G. schomburgkii Hook. f. This paper reports the in vitro propagation of G. schomburgkii Hook. f. through bulbil explants. This study’s objective was to develop, for the first time, and then present a fast in vitro system for the micropropagation of G. schomburgkii Hook. f., an attractive ornamental plant from Thailand, using the tissue culture technique.

Keywords

Globba schomburgkii Hook. f., propagation, callus induction, bulbil, acclimatization

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