Micropropagation strategies in medicinally important turmeric (Curcuma sp): Current research and future challenges

Abstract

Curcuma is a commercially important medicinal and spice plant used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries for the synthesis of health-promoting curcuminoids and essential oils that helps to reduce the incidence of many ailments in humans. Curcuma, being a sterile triploid with deprived seed setting, is vegetatively propagated underground rhizomes. Diseases such as rhizome rot and foliar infections have reduced the productivity of Curcuma. Although, vegetative propagation using traditional approaches results in plants that are true to type, which is not economical and the chemical composition of commercial rhizomes varies according to genotypes and processing methods under field conditions. Plant propagation through in vitro techniques has made multiplication of plants easier in a faster way as compared to conventional methods. A liquid based micropropagation system using bioreactors yield plantlets with higher biomass and increased multiplication rates. The assessment of clonal fidelity of micropropagated plants is very important as they are produced at large scale during commercial application and can periodically be confirmed using molecular markers. The present review aims to provide recent information of Curcuma species micropropagation used for shoot multiplication, microrhizome production, and genetic fidelity analysis for maintaining homogeneity of in vitro generated plants.

In Vitro Microrhizome Production, Genetic Homogeneity Assessment, and Field Performance Evaluation in Ginger

“…Microrhizomes could successfully sprout both in vitro and in vivo [18] and were easily stored and transported [19]. Recently, it has been reported that in vitro-induced microrhizomes could be used for germplasm conservation [20], artificial seed production [21], and secondary metabolite production [16,22]. In ginger, attempts have been made to induce microrhizomes in vitro using high concentrations of sucrose and different combinations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) [23][24][25].…”

Evaluation of ex vitro growth and field performance of micro propagated polyploid clones of Neolamarckia cadamba

“…Tissue culture techniques have gained popularity due to their advantages over traditional seedling propagation methods. These techniques enable the production of large numbers of true-to-type seedlings with desirable traits [1,2]. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the field performance of tissue culture-derived seedlings to determine their suitability for reforestation programs and commercial forestry.…”