In vitro growth performance of Psidium guajava and P. guineense plantlets as affected by culture medium formulations

Abstract

The adjustment of protocols for the in vitro culture is fundamental for the conservation and application of biotechnological techniques of Psidium spp. This study has been aimed to determine the most appropriate culture medium formulation for the in vitro culture of Psidium guajava ‘Paluma’ (cv. GP) and a wild relative species, P. guineense. Seedlings of three accessions (Y93, Y95, and Y97) of P. guineense and cv. GP, previously germinated in vitro, were inoculated in the JADS, MS, and WPM culture media. After 110 days of culture, the growth morpho-physiological and nutritional parameters were assayed in the guava shoots. The use of JADS culture medium led to the highest growth in both guava species. The largest stomatal index was observed in the abaxial leaf surface of the plants grown in JADS, except for the accession Y97, which showed higher values in MS. The nutritional analysis revealed that the accumulation of nutrients in P. guineense shoots did not coincide with the composition of the culture media. Present studies conclude that the in vitro growth of the plants was influenced by the composition of the culture medium, being JADS the most indicated for the micropropagation of these guava plant species.