The Journal of Indian Botanical Society

Asparagus racemosus Willd. is a high value, neglected and critically endangered medicinal plant. So, its propagation through in-vitro technique is essential to meet the growing demands of global market. In the present investigation, explants were taken from local population of Bihar with high saponin content. MS medium with BAP (3mg/l), IAA (2mg/l), CM (10%), sucrose (3%) and purified agar, served as "callus-producing medium" for aerial stem segments. Two types of regeneration patterns were observed with nodal stem segments: Indirect and Direct Organogenesis. 80% nodal explants proliferated into healthy and compact calli while 15% developed (2–3) shoots/node, followed by development of healthy callus from the same origin. Synergistic actions of BAP, IAA, IB A and CM in basal medium were able to induce shoot differentiation either from the explants or from the callus. Multiple shoots (95%) was achieved in Vi MS with BAP (2.5mg/l), IBA (1.25mg/l) and 5% CM. Healthy adventitious roots appeared in Vi MS basal medium with IBA (2.5mg/l) and IAA (2mg/l) with and without agar. After 60 days, 29% of the adventitious roots turned into storage roots in solid and liquid medium, 20% of the microshoots produced fibrous roots with dense root hairs from the basal region of nodes. BAP played good role in shoot and bud inductions whereas IBA is effective both at multiplication and rooting stages. 46% hardening was achieved and plants were successfully transferred to soil with 95% survival rate.