Browning prevention of oil palm somatic embryos in the temporary immersion system with antioxidant mixture and modification of basal media

Abstract

Abstract Browning on in vitro culture is one of the problems in somatic embryo regeneration that leads to growth inhibition and death of explants. This study aimed to prevent and control browning of oil palm somatic embryos (SE) in the Temporary Immersion System (TIS). The research was conducted in two stages; the first stage was applying an antioxidant mixture at concentrations of 20, 50, and 100 mg L-1 on the browning palm oil SE in TIS. The second stage was carried out by modification of the basal media, namely DF (control), MS, SM, and SMT. The explants used in experiment 2 were browning and fresh SE. The results showed that using 50 ppm antioxidants mixture increased the formation of new SE by up to 15 embryos per flask. Applying SMT basal media on browning SE could decrease browning rate sharply after two cycle cultures by up to 60% browning rate reduction. In this media, it was also seen that the number of new SE increased by up to 250 embryos and produced 15 germinants, while in control, only 60 SE and five germinants were formed. Whereas using SMT basal medium on fresh embryos could prevent browning and increase the formation of new embryos and germinants. In conclusion, using 50 ppm antioxidants can stimulate the formation of new embryos. Using SMT basal media could prevent browning and overcome the occurrence of browning in embryos by increasing the formation of new embryos and germinants.