Date palm micropropagation: Advances and applications

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a fruit tree resilient to adverse climatic conditions predominating in hot arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa. The date fruit contains numerous chemical components that possess high nutritional and medicinal values. Traditional propagation by offshoots is inefficient to satisfy current demands for date palm trees. Alternatively, micropropagation provides an efficient means for large-scale propagation of date palm cultivars. Both somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis, either directly or indirectly though the callus phase, have been demonstrated in date palm in vitro regeneration. Culture initiation commonly utilizes shoot-tip explants isolated from young offshoots. Recently, the immature inflorescences of adult trees were utilized as an alternative nondestructive source of explants. In addition to the nature of the explant used, successful plant regeneration depends on the cultivar, composition of the culture medium and physical status. Challenges of date palm micropropagation include long in vitro cycle, latent contamination, browning, somaclonal variation as well as ex vitro acclimatization and transplanting. A remarkable amount of research investigating these factors has led to optimized protocols for the micropropagation of numerous commercially important cultivars. This has encouraged the development of several international commercial tissue culture laboratories. Molecular characterization provides an assurance of genetic conformity of regenerated plantlets, a key feature for commercial production. This article describes date palm micropropagation protocols and also discusses recent achievements with respect to somaclonal variation, molecular markers, cryopreservation and future prospects.Index terms: Cryopreservation; somatic embryogenesis; somaclonal variation; organogenesis; molecular marker. RESUMOA tamareira (Phoenix dactylifera L.) é uma arvore frutífera adaptada à condições climáticas adversas predominantemente em regiões áridas do Oriente Médio e Norte Africano. As tâmaras possuem vários componentes químicos com alto valor medicinal e nutricional. A propagação tradicional por estacas não é suficiente para satisfazer a demanda por mudas e assim, a micropropagação apresenta-se como uma alternativa eficiente para a produção de mudas em larga escala. Embriogênese somática e organogênese, tanto direta quanto indireta via calos, tem sido usada para obter a regeneração in vitro de tamareira. O inicio do cultivo in vitro normalmente utiliza meristemas excisados de brotações jovens. Recentemente, inflorescências imaturas de árvores adultas são usadas como fonte alternativa de explantes não destrutiva. Além da origem do explante, o sucesso da regenerção depende do cultivar, da composição do meio de cultura e de condições físicas. Desafios na micropropagação de tamareira incluem um longo ciclo in vitro, contaminação, escurecimento do tecido, variação somaclonal além do enraizamento e aclimatização ex vitro. Diversos estudos investigando esses fatore...

Elicitor-Induced Production of Biomass and Pharmaceutical Phenolic Compounds in Cell Suspension Culture of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

“…The date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a desert fruit tree known as the “tree of life” for its many uses; it is mainly distributed in Middle Eastern and North African countries [ 1 ]. Date fruits are considered as sacred and are good sources of essential dietary minerals with important medicinal and nutritional values [ 1 , 2 ]. These fruits possess a wide range of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity [ 3 ].…”

Cryopreservation: A tool to conserve date palm in Saudi Arabia

“…Cryopreservation is a biotechnology procedure which has accepted a critical place in overall plant security programs and the defending of plant innate resources (Bajaj, 1995, Benson, 2002). Cryopreservation at −196 °C is viewed as the favored strategy for long haul protection of plant hereditary sources without changing its qualities (Al-Khayri and Naik, 2017). The cryopreserved materials don't require subculture and hypothetically the hereditary material can stay flawless for an uncertain period (Kaczmarczyk et al, 2008).…”

Assessment of antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Phoenix dactylifera L. seed extracts: Perspective for the development of new foods

“…Date seed oils are distinguished by their high content in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA): oleic acid (41 to 59%). These fatty acids play an essential role in human nutrition; they are involved in a good source of C18:1 fatty acid and in the prevention of heart diseases 16,45,46 . Besbes et al 47 reported that the oxidative stability of date seed oils was higher than that of most vegetable oils and comparable to that of olive oil and can be stored for a long time without deterioration.…”