Chitosan as a Growth Promoter and Enhance Survival Rate in an in vitro Culture of Banana (Musa spp.) Cultivar ‘Bantala’

Background: Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the most consumable fruits and cultivated around the globe. It contains high nutritional value as well as the high demand of the market. The microbes are the main problem for the propagation of banana plants in tissue culture. Chitosan is one of the best substances for the eradication of contamination and also growth stimulators of banana plants. This study is based on the micro-propagation of the bantala variety of Musa species and free from microbe infection. Methods: The rhizome and sucker as explants of Musa cv. Bantala. The different combination concentrations of 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and chitosan (CS) were tried in Murashige and Skoog medium for in vitro response of plants, shoot initiation and shoot proliferation. The formation of rooting was used as the half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and chitosan (CS). Result: The best response, shoot initiation and shoot proliferation were observed at 6-Benzylaminopurine (5.0 mg/L)+indole-3-acetic acid (0.5 mg/L)+chitosan (25 mg/L) and 6-Benzylaminopurine (4.0 mg/L)+indole-3-acetic acid (0.5 mg/L)+chatoyant (25 mg/L) in both of rhizome and sucker respectively. The maximum root formations were observed in the medium containing half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium+1.0 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid+25 mg/L chitosan in the rhizome and 0.8 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid+25 mg/L chitosan in the sucker. The successful survival rate of sucker and rhizome under the acclimatization condition was recorded as 90% and 88% compared with control as 66% and 63% respectively. This standardized protocol might be useful for the mass production of bantala variety as well as other cultivars of banana plants.