DEVELOPMENT OF EFFICIENT AND OPTIMIZED PROTOCOL FOR RAPID MICROPROPAGATION OF Physalis ixocarpa, A MEDICINAL HERB

The current study describes optimized protocol for in vitro micropropagation of medicinally important accession of physalis ixocarpa. plant extract from p. ixocarpa is used for stomach disorder, for purifying blood, as an antidote against local poison and in folk medicine to treat sore throat. shoots were induced from nodal shoot explants using murashige and skoog (ms) media supplemented with different concentrations of benzyalminopurine (bap). the effect of different concentrations of benzyalminopurine on shoot length, shoot number and per cent shoot induction of explant was observed. sprouting of shoot explants started within 7-8 days of inoculation. application of benzylaminopurine @1.5 mg l^-1 induced maximum shoot length (3.45 cm) with an average of 3.5 shoots explant-1 and 96% shoot induction. the healthy cultured shoots were transferred into new culture tubes having rooting media with different concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (0.25 mg l^-1, 0.5 mg l^-1, 1 mg l^-1iba). indole-3-butyric acid at the rate of 1 mg l^-1 was best for both primary and secondary roots production. in vitro grown plantlets having strong roots were successfully transferred to soil through successive acclimatization which yielded 90% survival rate.