Standardization of In Vitro Clonal Propagation for Papaya Variety “PUSA Delicious”

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is the most economically important fruit crop grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world that belongs to a small family Caricaceae. Papaya is mainly grown and consumed in developing countries and becoming popular internationally, for fresh fruit and as well as processed products. The requirement of quality planting material is the first priority in any crop plant species for sustaining yields and fulfilling farmer‘s demand. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of a high yielding papaya variety under in vitro conditions and for the development of efficient protocol for papaya clonal propagation. In the regards of surface sterilization, best results were observed at a combination of surface disinfectants; 0.1% mercuric chloride for 4 min, 70% Ethanol for 30 sec and 5% sodium hypochlorite for 6 min. The study indicated that the combinations of cytokinins with auxins found best for shoot multiplication in papaya. Highest shoot regeneration results were obtained on culture media PM17 consisting of basal MS media with 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.2 mg/L NAA. Best in vitro rooting was reported on basal ½-MS media fortified with 1.5 mg/L IBA. The protocol this established could be effectively utilized in aseptic in vitro establishment of papaya plants and for high frequency shoot multiplication for fulfilling the farmer‘s demand of quality planting materials.