THE EFFECTS OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS ON in-vitro CULTURE OF Abelmoschus sagittifolius

Abelmoschus sagittifolius is an important medicinal plant belonging to the Malvaceae family. This medicinal plant has been used to treat various diseases such as phthisis, cough, constipation, neurasthenia, carbuncle sore swollen poison, dizziness, lumbocrural pain and stomach pain. This paper presents the effects of plant growth regulators on in vitro culture of A. sagittifolius. In vitro propagation of A. sagittifolius, the best seed disinfectant was NaClO 5% for a period of 15 minutes. The MS medium containing 2.0 mgL-1 BA showed the highest shoot regeneration rate after 8 weeks of culture while the medium contained 2.0 mgL-1 BA + 0.4 mgL-1 NAA was better for shoot multiplication. Medium supplemented with 2.0 mgL-1 IAA was optimal for plant rooting (average value of 13.22 roots per shoot). These results could play an important role in large-scale plant production of this medicinal herb and for in vitro conservation.