Wahyu Widoretno

The effects of scarification on seed germination of porang (Amorphophallus muelleri)

Porang is a member of the genus Amorphophallus that has high economic value because of its glucomannan content. Glucomannan is a fiber carbohydrate that is beneficial for health, for example, it can be used to control obesity. Currently, the cultivation area of porang is increasing. However, the availability of seeds is not sufficient for land expansion. Planting materials that may be supplied in large quantities are seeds rather than bulbil or bulbs. Disadvantages of seeds are less uniformity and the long time for its germination. Therefore, it is necessary to have germination by scarification and non-scarification treatments simultaneously. Scarification includes physical (sandpaper or nail clippers) and chemicals (1% H2SO4) scarifications. Non-scarification treatments include a soak in 1% KNO3, 0.1% GA3 or 1% Ethrel and exposure to light (7 × 24 hours) or dark (7 × 24 hours). The experiment was designed using Randomized Controlled Designs (RCD), with three replicates per experiment. Each replicate consisted of 25 seeds. The parameters included percent germination, hypocotyl length, and number of rooted sprout. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and LSD (0.05). The results showed that physical scarification (nail clippers) resulted in 100% germination, highest hypocotyl length, and highest rooted root. Dark and light treatment gave almost equal results in a percentage of germination, hypocotyl length and number of rooted sprout. Under the treatment of GA3 and Ethrel, Ethrel gave all the highest observed parameters.Porang is a member of the genus Amorphophallus that has high economic value because of its glucomannan content. Glucomannan is a fiber carbohydrate that is beneficial for health, for example, it can be used to control obesity. Currently, the cultivation area of porang is increasing. However, the availability of seeds is not sufficient for land expansion. Planting materials that may be supplied in large quantities are seeds rather than bulbil or bulbs. Disadvantages of seeds are less uniformity and the long time for its germination. Therefore, it is necessary to have germination by scarification and non-scarification treatments simultaneously. Scarification includes physical (sandpaper or nail clippers) and chemicals (1% H2SO4) scarifications. Non-scarification treatments include a soak in 1% KNO3, 0.1% GA3 or 1% Ethrel and exposure to light (7 × 24 hours) or dark (7 × 24 hours). The experiment was designed using Randomized Controlled Designs (RCD), with three replicates per experiment. Each replicate cons...

Effect of Cell Density and Benzyl Amino Purine on the Growth of Somatic Embryo of Citrus Mandarin Batu 55 (Citrus reticulata Blanco.) in Liquid Culture

Citrus mandarin Batu 55 ( Citrus reticulata Blanco.) is one of Indonesian fruits commodities that have high economic value and consumers demand. The propagation of citrus mandarin by plant tissue culture generally was carried out on solid medium. The liquid culture system could increase cell multiplication therefore it became alternative method of plant propagation through somatic embryogenesis. The effect of initial cell density and Benzyl Amino Purin (BAP) concentration in liquid media were investigated. The initial cells density and right concentration of BAP given in media can increase cell proliferation of somatic embryo in liquid culture. Globular somatic embryo were cultured on Murashige and Tucker media with initial cell density 4, 6, 8 and 10 mgL -1 and BAP 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 mgL -1 . Growth evaluation of somatic embryo were obtained by weighing fresh and dry weight every 2 weeks for 8 weeks for initial cell density treatment and 6 weeks of BAP treatment. The result of the research showed that cell density affect the growth of somatic embryo of citrus mandarin. Somatic embryo with low cell density showed slower growth compared than high cell density. Peak growth occured in 6 th cultured with cell density 10 mgL -1 . In addition to cell density, the growth of somatic embryo in liquid culture was affected by BAP. The growth of somatic embryo on the media containing BAP showed better results than without BAP. The highest BAP concentration on media showed fresh and dry weight of somatic embryo increased. In this research, growth of somatic embryo is not optimal yet because fresh and dry weights of somatic embryo still increase with high concentration 0.75 mgL -1 of BAP. Keywords: Benzyl Amino Purine, cell density, citrus mandarin, liquid medium, somatic embryo.

Genetic kinship of tongkat langit banana (Musa troglodytarum L.) from Moluccas based on rbcL gene sequence

The present study was conducted to investigate the genetic kinship of tongkat langit banana population from Moluccas which was out-grouped into Musa fehi, Ensete glaucum, Ensete superbum dan Ensete ventricosum (NCBI). The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that tongkat langit banana and Musa fehi formed sub-clade I with similarity value of 99–100%. Ensete genus formed clade II with similarity value of 98–99%.