Increasing the Genetic Diversity of Patchouli through Gamma Ray Irradiation

The development of patchouli varieties can increase patchouli oil production in Indonesia. However, the development of varieties in patchouli has been limited because in Indonesia, most of them are cultivated vegetatively, so it is challenging to develop patchouli varieties due to low genetic diversity. Developing patchouli varieties through gamma-ray irradiation is an effective way to increase the genetic diversity of patchouli plants. Plantlets of the Tapak Tuan variety were used as explants and irradiated with gamma rays at doses of 0, 10, 15, and 20 Gy, with four replications per treatment. After irradiation, shoots were cultured on MS medium, forming first-generation mutant shoots (MV1), which were subcultured for three weeks. These MV1 shoots then developed into second-generation mutant shoots (MV2) through another three-week subculture. This research aims to analyze the morphological diversity of patchouli resulting from gamma-ray irradiation. Data were analyzed using the average value with standard deviation and boxplot. The research showed that an irradiation dose of 10 Gy produced morphological diversity in plant height and number of leaves and nodes