Micropropagation of Sumatran Frankincense (Styrax Benzoin) Forest Plants Producing Bioactive Raw Materials for Medicine

Abstract

Preservation of tropical forest plants that have high economic potential, such as Sumatran benzoin (Styrax benzoin Dryander), is urgently carried out through the provision of quality seeds. The purpose of this study was to propagate the Sumatran Frankincense plant to produce good quality seeds to meet the needs of seeds for forest conservation purposes. The micropropagation technique was carried out using explants from selected parent plants of very good quality. Micropropagation through the use of explants from several parts of the plant aims to produce seeds with the same incense production quality as the parent plant. Explants were selected from the young leaves of the shoots. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with two factors: concentrations of NAA (0-3 mg/L) and BAP (0-3 mg/L). The combination of NAA and BAP in culture media under optimal conditions proved to be effective in inducing callus and plantlet growth. The success of micropropagation has the potential to produce seeds of the same excellent quality as the parent plant in large quantities in a relatively short time. This technique is expected to be able to meet the conservation needs of people's forests and national forests, and in the long term will increase the production of frankincense as a non-timber forest commodity as raw material for medicine.