Regeneration and multiplication capacity of local banana (Musa spp.) cultivars using callus and shoot tip cultures

Conventional clonal propagation of banana cultivars using suckers is very slow and limited. In Malaysia, areas for banana plantation are increasing and there is an urgent demand for a quick source of planting materials. In addition, there is interest in improving and developing local banana cultivars for commercial production. In vitro culture techniques can provide an effective method for rapid micropropagation of new banana plants. Plantlet regeneration of P. Intan was achieved via callus tissues derived from the cell suspension cultures. The planting materials for P. Nangka and P. Tanduk were difficult to obtain because of poor sucker formation. However, this study showed that the multiplication rate of plantlets of these cultivars is high and potentially useful in producing high and uniform planting materials