In vitro propagation of jasmine-a critical review

Jasmine, Jasminum sambac (L) Aiton belonging to family Oleaceae is an ornamental plant that produces white flowers with a very pleasant fragrance and is extensively used in perfumery and for religious purposes. Jasmine does not bear seeds hence the plant is propagated solely by cuttings and layering and these methods of propagation are dependent on the season. Layering involves more time and restricts the number of plants propagated from a bush. However long term cutting/layering causes varietal degeneration, resistance weakness and declining flower production. In recent years plant tissue culture technique has become a powerful tool for the propagation of many plant species. Vegetative parts like nodes, shoot apices, stems and leaves have been used as explants for in vitro propagation. The explants are usually collected from field grown mature plants and thereafter inoculated on variously supplemented Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium for multiple shoot proliferation and callus induction. Callus induction from leaf and meristem explants has been achieved using different concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. Maximum percentage of cultures showing callus proliferation from leaf explants was observed in the medium containing MS basal salts supplemented with 3.0 mg/l BAP and 2.0 mg/l IAA in leaf explants. White and friable callus was obtained in the medium containing MS basal salts supplemented with 2.0 mg/l BAP, 2.0 mg/l Kn and 2.0 mg/l IAA from meristem explants.