The development of new materials to be used as a substrate for plant tissue culture can lead to substantial advances in biotechnology. Here, mats consisting of a mixture of nonwoven (randomly oriented) and aligned nanofibres were produced by electrospinning solutions of polylactic acid (PLA) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). They were referred to as PLA4 and PVDF4, respectively. Callus initiation from stem explants of bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) and aromatic chilli (Capsicum frutescens L.) occurred on these two types of nanofibre mats floated in liquid Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium supplemented with 2 mg/l α-naphthalene acetic acid or 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid, respectively. After subculturing for 3 weeks, the fresh weight of callus initiated from stem explants of bilimbi was significantly greater by 20% when PVDF4 rather than PLA4 nanofibre mats were used as a support matrix. In contrast, both the fresh and dry weights of callus initiated from stem explants of aromatic chilli were significantly greater by 11% and 50%, respectively, when PLA4 and not PVDF4 nanofibre mats was used. These differences in response to the two types of nanofibre mats were also found in relation to growth of callus of bilimbi and aromatic chilli during subculture. This is the first time electrospun nanofibre mats have been used in plant tissue culture research.

Nanofibre mats have been mainly used in relation to human health sciences. The application of this material in plant tissue culture was still rare. In this research, using different types and patterns of nanofibre mats, the microshoots (size 2-3 mm) of three basils were cultured in vitro. There were 3 types of materials for fabrication of a nanofibre mat in this study: cellulose (C), polyvinylidene fluoride (F) and polylactic acid (L) and 2 patterns of nanofibre mats: nonwoven (called pattern 1) and a mixture of nonwoven and aligned nanofibres (called pattern 4). Microshoot explants were obtained from aseptic grown holy basil, lemon basil and sweet basil seedlings. These explants were cultured on nanofibre mats that were floated on liquid basal MS medium. The results revealed that holy basil microshoots exhibited the greatest shoot height and number of root formed when cultured on the nonwoven cellulose-based nanofibre mat (C1). The nonwoven nanofibre mats electrospun from polylactic acid (L1), however, supported the greatest shoot height of both lemon basil and sweet basil microshoot explants. In addition, both lemon basil and sweet basil microshoots formed the greatest number of roots when cultured on the nonwoven nanofibre mats electrospun from polyvinylidene fluoride (F1). Thus, the basil microshoot cultures exhibited various responses when cultured on the different types and patterns of nanofibre mats. This innovation of culturing basil microshoots on electrospun nanofibre mats only requires 0.5 ml liquid medium and should also assist plant tissue culturists to save on using the relative expensive agar.