Fruits and leaves of Vaccinium spp. are known for their high content of bioactive compounds, but the chemical and biological characteristics of mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth) have not been fully described. In this study, the levels of polyphenols, antioxidant capacity, anthocyanins, antimicrobial activity, and genetic variability were determined in mortiño plants. The Folin–Ciocalteu's, ABTS scavenging, pH differential, and well diffusion methods were used to evaluate the levels of polyphenols, antioxidant capacity, anthocyanins, and antimicrobial activity, respectively. The genetic variability was evaluated by sequencing of the matK and rbcl DNA regions. Polyphenol content was up to 229.81 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g, the average antioxidant capacity was 11.01 mmol Trolox equivalents/100 g, and anthocyanin content was up to 1,095.39 mg/100 g. Mortiño extracts significantly inhibited the growth of Gram‐negative bacteria including Burkholderia gladioli, Burkholderia cepacia, Salmonella Typhimurium, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio vulnificus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomona aeruginosa, as well as Gram‐positive bacteria such as Probionibacterium propionicum, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis showing greater inhibition halos than those produced by the antibiotic ampicillin. A polymorphic nucleotide was found in position 739 of the matK region. This study shows the potential of mortiño for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Agriculture and modern biotechnology are increasingly becoming interdependent, and many new techniques have brought new opportunities for enhancing production and marketing. Germplasm storage is an alternative for the conservation of plant genetic diversity, contributing to the improvement and maintenance of propagation programs for species of interest. In this work, banana corms were collected as plant material from relatively young commercial plantations of three different cultivars: 'Williams', Valery (AAA genome; Cavendish subgroup), and 'Barraganete' (AAB genome; Plantain subgroup). Their shoot tips were introduced into in vitro conditions, and subcultured monthly to obtain the required number of shoots. The shoots were subsequently rooted and stimulated to invigoration in order to extract apical meristems (0.8-1.0 mm), which were prepared for cryopreservion in liquid nitrogen (−196 °C) following preconditioning in PVS2 vitrification solution. Thereafter, the explants were rapidly thawed and then recovered and regenerated using two different methods -by Panis (2009) and Korneva et al. (2009) -consisting of two different sets of recovery and subsequent regeneration media. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the banana cultivar 'Williams' demonstrated higher survival and regeneration rates after cryopreservation using the Korneva method, whereas in cultivars 'Valery' and 'Barraganete', there were no significant differences between the tested methods. The 'Barraganete' cultivar had the lowest survival and regeneration rates, regardless of the applied method.

The disinfected axillary shoots of mortino - a wild plant species were cultured in MS with different concentrations (0.002, 0.05 and 0.1%) of methyl N-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate to develop an in vitro protocol for micropropagation through organogenesis. They were then placed in a concentration matrix (0.1, 1.0 and 10.0 μM) whose factorial design involved BAP and IAA in WPM. Results showed a 100% disinfection at 0.05% concentrations of carbendazim and the combination of IAA and BAP at 10 μM yielded a multiplication factor of 3.35, with rooting after seven weeks. This system showed efficient disinfection, multiplication and yielding an acceptable root system. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 30(2): 167-177, 2020 (December)