The impact of 6-benzyladenine concentrations on the in vitro clonal propagation of the medicinal plant Allium kurrat L.

Kurrat (Allium kurrat L.) is a widely consumed vegetable in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Egypt, where it is valued for its fresh leaves, rich nutritional profile, and medicinal properties. In the current study, an in vitro propagation protocol was established using seed-derived cultures on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with varying concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA; 1–4 µM). Shoot multiplication responded positively to BA supplementation, with the maximum number of shoots (19.0 ± 0.58 shoots/seed) recorded at 2.0 µM BA, representing a significant increase compared with the control (1.0 ± 0.0 shoot/seed). However, shoot and root lengths decreased significantly with the addition of BA compared to the control. The shoot fresh weight was higher in the control (0.32 ± 0.01 g), whereas root fresh weight increased at 2.0 µM BA (0.27 ± 0.01 g). Meanwhile, at 4.0 µM BA, both shoot and root fresh weights declined compared with the control. The root-to-shoot ratio was also influenced by BA, reaching the highest value (1.74 ± 0.04) at 2.0 µM BA, followed by 1.54 ± 0.02 at 1.0 µM BA. These findings indicate that 2.0 µM BA is optimal for enhancing shoot proliferation and increasing root biomass while maintaining a favourable root-to-shoot balance in A. kurrat micropropagation. This study optimized a micropropagation system that provides an efficient and reproducible method for large-scale production of A. kurrat and serves as a valuable platform for future biotechnological and breeding applications.