Inhibition of browning problem during micropropagation of Sideritis trojana bornm., an endemic medicinal herb of Turkey

Abstract

Micropropagation is used increasingly for ex situ conservation of endangered endemic plants and this in vitro technique provides mass propagation of medicinal plants. However during this process, stages of micropropagation are limited by serious problems. One of these problems is the explant browning which is related to the oxidation of phenolic compounds. In this research, several different methods have been used to eliminate the browning problem in tissue culture. In the present research, inhibitory effects of different treatments such as Heller medium or adding activated charcoal, morpholine ethane sulfonic acid (MES) or ascorbic acid/citric acid combination to the medium, fast subculture passages or changing culture conditions to the dark were investigated against browning problem of Sideritis trojana Bornm. Adding a combination of 100 mg/l ascorbic acid and 50 mg/l citric acid to the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium was found as the most effective treatment.