In vitro and ex vitro germination of Jatropha gossypiifolia and initiation of in vitro cultivation

Abstract

Jatropha gossypiifolia L. is a common medicinal plant in the Amazon. Popularly known as pião-roxo, it produces luteol that has healing activities and, therefore, was included in the National List of Medicinal Plants of Interest to the SUS. It has potential as an herbal medicine, but there are no phytotechnical studies for large-scale reproduction and, therefore, seed germination tests are necessary. For the ex vitro germination test, seeds were placed in different substrates for 180 days to determine the best type of soil for germination. For the in vitro germination test, three different concentrations of sodium hypochlorite were tested: 0.1; 0.5 and 1.0%. Nodal segments were subjected to the same asepsis. As a result, clayey soil was indicated as it presented the highest seed germination speed index. As in vitro seed germination was not obtained, it was decided to start the cultivation of this species using nodal segments and the best treatment was 1.0 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite. Thus, it was found that it is possible to produce plant biomass of this species to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry both ex vitro and in vitro.