Plant regeneration of Amomum tsaoko Crevost & Lemarié in vitro

Abstract Cardamom (Amomum tsaoko Crevost & Lemarié) is a valuable medicinal herb in both traditional and western medicine. The pharmacological properties of the A. tsaoko seeds make it a useful cure for such ailments as abdominal pain, bloating, hiccups, vomiting, diarrhea, malaria, bad breath, and tooth decay. It has even further value for its use in food processing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop protocols that reduce the time required for the multiplication of cardamom using tissue culture techniques. The research was conducted to initially build up the process of in vitro propagation of cardamom from the rhizome buds. An 8 minutes treatment of HgCl2, with a concentration of 0.1%, is the most efficient for the disinfection of the rhizome buds, resulting in the rate of the disease-free survival explants reaching 18.29%. MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l BAP is the most suitable medium in the fast multiplication phase, with a multiplier of 4.54 shoots/explant, average shoot height of 5.45 cm, and good shoot quality after 6 weeks of culture. A suitable rooting medium for cardamom invitro-shoots was MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IBA with a rooting rate of 100%, the average number of roots was 5.6 roots/shoot and the average root length was achieved 6.2 cm, after 8 weeks of culture.