Sea moss as an alternative gelling agent to develop a cost-effective in vitro culture medium for the propagation of Phalaenopsis cv. Pink lip

Abstract

Genus Phalaenopsis is an ornamental orchid with the greatest commercial importance in the world floriculture industry. The propagation of Phalaenopsis is difficult by conventional breeding due to delayed flowering and uneven characteristics of flowers. Therefore, conventional Phalaenopsis cultivation is ineffective for large-scale production. At present, the tissue culture technique is extensively used for the mass propagation of Phalaenopsis. Tissue-cultured plants are more expensive than traditionally propagated plants due to the high cost of the chemicals used for the preparation of tissue culture media. Agar is widely used as a gelling agent and the most expensive ingredient in the preparation of tissue culture media. Developing a cost-effective invitro culture media using low-cost components is one strategy to reduce the production costs of tissue-cultured plants. The use of alternative gelling agents to replace the agar can highly contribute to reducing the cost of in-vitro culture media in tissue culture than other components. The main component of sea moss is carrageenan, a gelatinous substance used to thicken or as a solidifying agent. The ability of carrageenan-based hydrogels to produce thermos-reversible gels and viscous solutions makes them a desirable option for extensive use as a gelling agent. The objective of the present research was to assess the performance of sea moss as an alternative gelling agent to determine the effectiveness for in vitro propagation of Protocrom-like bodies (PLBs) of Phalaenopsis cv. Pink lip. Growth performance of PLBs of Phalaenopsis cv. Pink lip was used to assess the effect of sea moss as an alternative gelling agent. PLBs (0.020g) were transferred to ½ MS medium containing agar as a gelling agent, and ½ MS medium containing sea moss as a gelling agent. Cultures were maintained for four months and the growth performance of PLBs was evaluated, with fresh weight as a parameter at 30 days intervals. There was no significant difference observed in the mean fresh weight of PLBs throughout the fourmonth period, incubation in ½ MS medium containing agar, and medium containing sea moss as an alternative gelling agent. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the contamination percentages of the agar-containing medium and sea moss-containing medium. According to the cost calculation, the cost reduction resulting in the medium with sea moss as an alternative gelling agent was 79.81% compared to the conventional agar as the gelling agent. In conclusion, the application of sea moss as a gelling agent in tissue culture media can be utilized to achieve the optimum benefits for in vitro propagation of PLBs of Phalaenopsis cv. Pink lip. Based on the findings, sea moss can be recommended as a cost-effective alternative gelling agent for the propagation of Phalaenopsis cv. Pink lip using protocorm-like bodies.