In Vitro Biomass Production of Astragalus gilvus

Abstract

Biomass production of medicinal plants is crucial to take advantage of their biological activities. In vitro biomass production is a beneficial, controllable and ecofriendly way of this process. In this study, an efficient protocol for biomass production of in vitro grown Astragalus gilvus Boiss shoots was specified. Shoots were exposed to different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine, indole-3-butyric acid, indole-3-acetic acid and doubled concentrations of vitamins (nicotinic acid, pyridoxine and thiamine). To identify the effects of growth regulators, growth parameters such as shoot elongation, shoot formation per explant, single and multiple shoot formation percentages were examined and biomass accumulations such as fresh (FW) and dry (DW) weights and relative dry weight percentages were also specified. Maximum biomass production rates (FW = 0.46 g/month/explant and DW = 0.031 g/month/explant) were obtained in WPM medium supplemented with doubled vitamin concentration and 1 mg/L BA amongst the media used. In this medium, a total of 168 shoots obtained and this was the 19.33% of all shoots regenerated. In respect to data obtained, a three-step process is offered for high quality biomass production.