Ginger juice enhanced growth of aromatic chilli during in vitro culture and acclimatization

Abstract: Stem explants excised from seedlings of aromatic chilli (Capsicum frutescens L) grown under aseptic conditions were cultured on basal medium alone (control), and basal medium supplemented with 5, 10 or 20 mL/L juice of ginger rhizome of 6 or 10 months old (herein referred to as YGE and OGE, respectively). At the end of 6 weeks of culture, the average number of roots formed per stem explant was higher when cultured on media supplemented with the three different levels of YGE or OGE (except 5 mL/L) compared to the control. Roots, formed in stem explants cultured on media containing the different levels of YGE (except 20 mL/L) and OGE, were longer than those cultured on basal medium. Particularly notable was that the average length of roots formed in stem explants cultured on medium supplemented with 5 mL/L OGE was more than double that of the control. Prior culture on media containing the different levels of YGE had no promotive effect on the number of leaves per exflasked plantlet compared to the control at the end of three weeks of acclimatization but the plantlets cultured previously on 5 or 10 mL/L YGE were taller than the control. The best performance of plantlets regarding leaf number and stem height after acclimatization was exhibited by those cultured previously on medium containing 10 mL/L OGE as they had at least 20% more leaves and were taller than the control.