Lady Rosetta Potato Farming: In vitro Exploration of Chitosan and Derivatives for Multiplication, Microtuber Induction, and Somaclonal Variation Detection.

This study evaluates chitosan and its derivatives in regular and nano forms to enhance the growth and yield of the Lady Rosetta potato. Results indicate significant improvements compared to the control group. For regular forms, shoot length markedly increased, with chitosan lactate at 0.03% producing a maximum length of 16 cm, compared to only 12.3 cm in the control. The highest shoot number (8.3) was observed with N,O carboxymethyl chitosan at 0.01%, while the control yielded only 4.7 shoots. Branch numbers also improved, with chitosan acetate at 0.03% achieving 10 branches versus 1.7 in the control. Leaf count per shoot was highest with chitosan lactate (0.03%) at 14.7, compared to 6.7 in the control. Chlorophyll a and b levels were significantly higher; chitosan lactate (0.03%) showed 28.2 mg/g of chlorophyll a, while chitosan acetate (0.01%) reached 23.7 mg/g of chlorophyll b, compared to 23.5 mg/g and 11.4 mg/g in the control. Carotenoid content was also elevated, with N,O carboxymethyl chitosan (0.03%) and chitosan lactate (0.03%) yielding 7.3 mg/g and 7.14 mg/g, respectively, versus 6.6 mg/g in the control. Microtuberization showed impressive results, with chitosan lactate (0.01%) producing up to 25.3 microtubers versus 7.7 in the control. Size analysis indicated that chitosan lactate at 0.03% produced microtubers measuring 0.9 cm compared to only 0.4 cm in the control. Nano treatments, especially nano chitosan lactate (0.01% and 0.03%), yielded 12.7 microtubers and 0.4 cm compared to 8.3 microtubers and 0.3 cm for control. Genetic stability was confirmed through RAPD and ISSR analyses.