Influence of Plant Growth Regulators on in vitro Morphogenesis of Moringa oleifera L. Using Nodal Segment Cultures

Moringa oleifera is a multi-purpose tree that is gaining popularity as an economic crop because of increasing recognition of its nutritional and medicinal properties. Conventionally, seeds have been employed to propagate Moringa oleifera; the genotypes of trees developed from seedlings often differ from their mother plants, which affecting nutritional value and pod production. Therefore, in the present investigation, a protocol was established to regenerate plantlets through indirect and direct in vitro organogenesis from cultured nodal segments excised from in vitro developed plants. The present study was carried out at the Plant Tissue Culture & Genetic Transformation Laboratory, Department of Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University, Gwalior M.P., India during the years 2021 to 2023. Nodal segments were inoculated on MS medium amended with different concentrations and combinations of auxins and cytokinins. MS medium containing 1.0 mgl-1 2,4-D induced callus in higher frequencies with maximum fresh weight (3.70g) after 60 days of inoculation. The best multiple shoot formation (8.00±0.30) with higher shoot length (9.00±0.27cm) were observed on nutrient media fortified with 1.0 mgl-1NAA in combination with 0.5 mgl-1 BAP. Whereas, maximum numbers of roots per micro shoot (11.00±0.28) with greater length (7.20±0.15cm) were obtained on basal MS media amended with 1.0 mgl-1 IBA. Among different potting mixture combinations, maximum survival (85%) with maximum plant height (12.95±0.17cm) achieved in a cocopeat: vermiculite in 1:1 ratio. The in vitro regenerated plantlets were successfully acclimatized and established under field conditions. Although the characters were not scored quantitatively, regenerated plantlets appeared phenotypically normal and true- to-type.