Synthetic Seeds Production and Regeneration of Oxalis triangularis for Mass Propagation and Conservation

Abstract

Oxalis triangularis is an attractive ornamental plant propagated by using bulbs and has no natural viable seeds. It is an ideal decorative plant for growing in pots and other containers. The plant is not widely found in Malaysia and mostly obtained from Thailand. Hence, it is necessary to propagate this plant through tissue culture system for large scale production. In the present study, production of synthetic seeds was attempted from this species and the synthetic seeds managed to survive after 7 and 30 days after storage at 4°C. The rate of synthetic seeds conversion to complete plants after 7 days was 96.67% with 4.57 mean shoot numbers, while after 30 days of storage, the conversion rate slightly decreased to 90% with only 3.97 shoots formation per bead. The present work reports and discusses the potential of tissue culture technique as an alternative method for mass propagation and conservation of this interesting and attractive ornamental plant for future uses and exploitation.