In vitro somatic embryogenesis response of date palm cv. Sukkary to sucrose and activated charcoal concentrations

Abstract: The rational of the study was to determine the effect of different concentrations of sucrose (20 and 40 g/L) and activated charcoal (0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/L) alone (control) and in combinations on the somatic embryogenesis of date palm cv. Sukkary. The results of two-factorial (sucrose and activated charcoal) randomized complete design indicated that no embryogenesis growth occurred when MS media was used without the addition of carbon source. The individual and combined effects of 40 g/L sucrose and 1 g/L activated charcoal produced sturdy embryogenesis and its related traits. The use of 40 g/L sucrose caused significant improvement in the number of somatic embryos (49.92), length of somatic embryos (1.08 cm), fresh weight of somatic embryos (1.54 g), dry weight of somatic embryos (0.148 g), germination of somatic embryos (4.92), and length of leaflets (2.14 cm). Similarly, use of 1 g/L of activated charcoal significantly increased the number (42.89), length (0.99 cm), fresh weight (1.29 g), dry weight (0.156 g), germination (3.22) of somatic embryos, and length of leaflets (1.47 cm) as compared to other treatments. Results also showed that the combined application of 40 g/L sucrose and 1 g/L activated charcoal significantly enhanced the number of somatic embryos (69.67), length of somatic embryos (1.37 cm), fresh weight of somatic embryos (2.18 g), dry weight of somatic embryos (0.262 g), germination of somatic embryos (6.33), and length of leaflets (2.57 cm) as compared to other treatment combinations. However, the same sucrose level with 0.5 g/L activated charcoal concentration also showed promising results.