Studies on in vitro propagation of sweet cherry cv. Bigarreau Noir Grossa

Present investigation on sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cv. Bigarreau Noir Grossa was carried out on its micropropagation. Surface sterilisation of shoot tip explant with 0.1% HgCl₂for 10 min. yielded maximum aseptic cultures and explant survival. Using explants from forced stock stem plant cuttings significantly improved culture initiation. Maximum explant establishment (50.57%) was observed on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with BAP + kinetin (0.25 + 0.25 mg l⁻¹). Treatment BAP + kinetin (0.25 + 0.25 mg l⁻¹) accounted for maximum proliferating cultures (99.96%) with highest multiplication efficiency in terms of proliferation grade (4.0) and shoots/explant (17.28). Rooting was carried out by incubation of micro-shoots in IBA supplemented MS medium for 10 days under darkness followed by their transfer on to hormone-free MS medium with incubation under light conditions. Micro-shoots equal to or greater than 10 mm in length gave good rooting. Auxin IBA (2.50 mg l⁻¹) was found most effective, which not only gave the highest rooting (86.33%) but also maximised root number/shoot (4.90) and root length (44.33 mm).