A revolutionary temporary immersion bioreactor method for commercialscale Musa sp. (Tanduk and Berangan) multiplication

Large-scale clonal banana production is required to supply current industry demand. Conventional tissue culture technique needs to be improvised to overcome the high-cost manufacturing and laborious work involved. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an efficient protocol in clonal banana production by using temporary immersion bioreactor (TIB) technology which uses intermittent immersion in liquid nutrients. This study evaluated the optimum protocol pathway for efficient Musa acuminata cv. Berangan and Musa paradisiaca cv. Tanduk propagation with the application of TIB system. M. acuminata and M. paradisiaca optimum initiation medium were developed in MS (Murashige and Skoog) media supplemented with 3 mg/L 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.2 mg/L Thiamine and 0.3 mg/L Thidiazuron (TDZ) respectively. The optimum proliferation medium in TIB developed in MS media supplemented with 3 mg/L BAP for both varieties. The highest number of shoots was achieved in TIB with 20 initial plantlets and a 15-minute immersion with a 6-hour gap along with a 14-day incubation period. Micropropagation of Musa sp. in Temporary Immersion Bioreactor System (RITA ®) has successfully shown significant growth as compared to MS media agar-conventional technique with reduced phenolic content released in both varieties. In conclusion, the production of Musa acuminata cv Berangan and Musa paradisiaca cv. Tanduk by using a temporary immersion bioreactor (TIB) system has huge potential to improve the scale production output with lower-cost plantlets