Quince seed mucilage as an alternative for agar in plant tissue culture

Abstract In order to reduce the expenses of plant tissue culture for plant industry, cheaper materials and/or equipment would be welcome especially in developing countries. In the present study, we tested mucilage extracted from seeds of quince ( Cydonia oblonga ) as alternative for agar in tissue culture. The seeds are currently disposed of as waste products of fruit industry. Tomato and tobacco lateral buds and stems were used as explants, and callus formation and the number of shoots, roots, and leaves were measured after thirty days of in vitro culture. The performance of quince mucilage based medium (QM) in comparison to agar was studied, varying the amounts of hormones, salts and sucrose in the medium. Statistical analyses, based on negative binomial regression, show that QM improved the production of callus, shoots, roots and leaves from tobacco explants. In tomato, results from QM and agar were similar to each other except with root production in which QM excelled. The results suggest that QM has potential for use as a gelling agent in plant tissue culture.