In-vitro conservation studies in Salacia chinensis L. a threatened medicinal plant

Abstract

Salacia chinensis L. a high valuable anti-diabetic medicinal plant of Hippocrateaceae family, possess various medicinal properties. Due to the lack of proper cultivation practices, excessive and indiscriminate collection of plant for supplement of global demands on herbal medicine, S. chinensis L. is severely threatened in nature. Micropropagation system was developed for commercialization and in-vitro conservation. Nodal segments were cultured on MS media supplemented with different growth regulators like BAP, NAA, IAA and KIN among these treatments, combination of BAP (2 mg/l) and NAA (0.8 mg/l) shows higher shoot length (3.40±0.12 cm), number of shoots (3.27±0.07) and number of leaves per explant (7.00±0.17) were observed. The same combination of BAP (2 mg/l) and NAA (0.8 mg/l) shows highest survival per cent, high shoot length, number of shoots per explant and number of leaves under in-vitro conservation for six month of period. These efforts could help to propagate plants with high medicinal value and thereby, meeting the demands of the growing population by sustainable use and conservation.