In Vitro Shoot and Root Induction of Kaempferia parviflora (Zingiberaceae) Rhizome Using 6-Benzylaminopurine

Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker is a medicinal plant from the Zingiberaceae family. This plant is native to Thailand and currently gaining high popularity in Malaysia. Its popularity is mainly due to the discovery of medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergies, anti-cancer, anti-plasmodial and anti-fungal. This plant is conventionally propagated via rhizome. However, conventional propagation of K. parviflora is time consuming due to the long dormancy period thus difficult to fulfill the market demand for raw materials. To overcome this problem, the tissue culture technique was introduced in this study as a propagation tool to mass-produce and break its dormancy. This study aimed to establish an aseptic culture of K. parviflora using different concentrations of Clorox® and to induce the shoot and root of K. parviflora buds using different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). The results showed that 50% Clorox® was the best concentration to reduce the contamination by microorganisms and produce a high survival rate. In the subsequent experiment, the Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/L BAP was found to exhibit the best results on the numbers of shoot, length of shoot and number of roots. In conclusion, this study proved that the rhizome explant was successfully sterilised using Clorox®, and root and shoot formation was induced in the presence of cytokinin, particularly 6-benzylaminopurine.