<i>In vitro </i>clonal propagation of bird eye chilli (<i>Capsicum frutescens </i>Mill.)

Abstract

An efficient and highly reproducible protocol for micropropagation of bird eye chilli <i>Capsicum frutescens </i>was attempted. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.5-3.0 mgl^-1 of 6-benzyladenine (BA), 2-isopentenyl adenine (2 iP), kinetin and 0.5-2.0 mg l^-1 of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) along with 1 gl^-1 activated charcoal (AC) were used for shoot regeneration from both shoot tip and nodal explants. Shoot tip explants (100%) grew well on medium containing 1 mg l^-1 of kinetin and l mgl^-1 of IBA. Shoot proliferation (1-3) from nodal explants was effective on this medium. The regenerated shoots with 4-7 nodes had further growth upon sub-culturing on to kinetin (1 mg l^-1) and IBA(1 mgl^-1) and rooted simultaneously. The rooted plants were transferred to pots after hardening under controlled conditions. The survival percentage in pots was 80-90%.