Systematic review on micropropagation of Aloe barbadensis Mill a medicinal lily of desert

Abstract

Gwarpatha (Aloe barbadensis Mill.) grown in warm tropical areas and is one of the most studied perennial shrubs worldwide.It has valuable medicinal properties and commercially used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food industries and for many herbal preparations. It contains antioxidant vitamins which prevent damages caused by free radical, reducing risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart diseases and stroke. In nature Aloe barbadensis is propagated through lateral shoots which shows slow growth and are low in numbers and cultivation practice is expensive. For its large scale plantation there is a need to develop suitable and alternative method like in vitro micropropagation to meet the demand of farmers and pharmaceutical industries. Auxins, cytokinins and auxin-cytokinin interactions are considered to be the most important for regulating growth and organized development in tissue and organ cultures, as these two classes of hormones are generally required for in vitro propagation of gwarpatha. The present study aimed to develop collective information on protocol for rapid and high frequency in vitro propagation of Aloe barbadensis, looking through its increasing demand for pharmaceutical industry at global level.