Abstract
Korarima (Aframomum corrorima (Braun) P.C.M. Jansen) is a herbaceous perennial plant that belongs to the family Zingiberaceae in which lack of a steady supply of quality planting material is one of the bottlenecks for the exploitation of the export potential. Thus, the use of micropropagation is suggested to alleviate these problems. In micropropagation, in vitro seed germination and multiplication of hypocotyls/shoot tips to regenerate shoots is preferred because it minimizes sterilization cost. So far, there was no available efficient protocol optimization on in vitro propagation of korarima in Ethiopia. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the optimum concentration of Kinetin (KIN) and N-6-benzyladenine (BA) on in vitro regenerating of korarima explants from hypocotyls/shoot tips. Multiplied shoots were subcultured on hormone free medium for four weeks to avoid carryover effect. The different concentrations of KIN (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/l) and/or BA (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 mg/l) were arranged in randomized complete design (CRD) with four replications. Results indicate that medium containing 6.0 mg/l of BA alone was found to be optimum for shoot induction after six weeks. High level of BA alone was found the best for excess shoot proliferation, but high level of KIN mostly enhances longer shoots and regenerates minor roots. Generally, it can be concluded that Korarima can successfully induce shoot from hypocotyls that originated from seeds without any contamination on the initial inoculation of the explants and higher concentration of BA (6.0 mg/l) could be used to obtain desirable shoot regeneration of korarima. Key words: Cytokinins, N-6-benzyladenine (BA), hypocotyls, kinetin (KIN), shoot induction, shoot Multiplication, in vitro.  
Highlights
Selection of shoot tips for the subsequent experiments from in vitro germinated seeds In order to break seed dormancy, seeds were soaked in 50% of H2SO4 for 60 min and in 250 mg/l of GA3 for one to two days
One-fourth MS medium strength was more preferable for seed germination of korarima and the use of a single capsule for a given basal MS medium strength was important to obtain uniformly emerged hypocotyls than mixed seeds
Seeds soaked on GA3 for 1 to 2 days were best for breaking of the dormancy and encouraged seeds to start their germination within 24 days, but they had erratic seed germination
Summary
Korarima (Aframomum corrorima (Braun) P.C.M. Jansen), which is native to Ethiopia, is one of the renowned spices and medicinal plants of the family Zingiberaceae. Jansen), which is native to Ethiopia, is one of the renowned spices and medicinal plants of the family Zingiberaceae It is a herbaceous, perennial and aromatic species classified under the monocotyledonous crops. Different plant parts of korarima (seeds, pods, leaves and flowers) are locally used in traditional medicine to treat humans and cattle as well. Since its rhizomes and leaves spread well on the ground, korarima plants could serve a lot for soil and water conservation, especially by covering and protecting the soil from erosion and drying all year round in the mountainous areas where the crop is commonly cultivated (Eyob et al, 2008)
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