Effect of coconut water on in vitro propagation of Hylocereus costaricensus and acclimatization

Abstract

Red-purple dragon fruit, Hylocereus costaricensis (Web.) Britton & Rose belongs to Cactaceae family. Due to its high nutraceutical ingredients has attracted a lot of attention to alternative propagate this species through in vitro culture technique. This research was aimed to analysed the effects of different concentrations of coconut water on the growth of H. costaricensis stem explants in Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Vacin and Went (VW) media. Then, combination of soil and coconut coir or coconut husk were used as planting media during acclimatization was investigated. Findings showed that in MS and VW supplemented with 5% coconut water formed 100% of shoot and root. VW media supplemented with 5% of coconut water yielded the highest average number of shoots (6.28 ± 0.48) and the longest shoot (3.85 ± 0.23 cm). The longest root (7.00 ± 0.66 cm) was observed on MS media supplemented with 5% coconut water whereas VW media supplemented with 5% coconut water produced the highest average number of roots (2.40 ± 0.19). Addition of coconut water can stimulate better shoot and root formation as it contains naturally plant growth regulators. During acclimatization, combination of soil and coconut coir showed the highest percentage (100%) of survival rate.