Effects of organic additives and different carbohydrate sources on proliferation of protocorm- like bodies in Dendrobium

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of different organic additives and sugar types as carbon source on the growth and proliferation of protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) of a very new Dendrobium hybrid known as D. Alya Pink (DAP). PLBs were supplemented with homogenates of banana, tomato, and coconut water at various concentrations. Proliferation rate was recorded on a fresh weight basis. The effect of various types of local banana homogenate was also used to evaluate their efficiency in proliferation of PLBs. Six types of sugar were used to evaluate their effect on the growth of DAP PLBs. Results showed that banana and tomato homogenate was not effective for PLB proliferation DAP as control gave the highest fresh weight of 0.48 ± 0.02g. Coconut water was found to be the best organic additive for the proliferation of DAP PLBs which showed a four-fold increase of fresh weight (0.59 ± 0.03g) compared to the initial weight of 0.15g in just four weeks. Highest growth was recorded in PLBs supplemented with glucose, fructose and sucrose with 0.94 ± 0.55 g, 9.1 ± 0.82 g and 6.51 ± 0.52 g of PLBs respectively. Galactose, mannitol and sorbitol were not suitable to promote the growth of PLBs. In this study, coconut water was selected to be the best organic additive and glucose as the suitable carbohydrate source for the proliferation of D. Alya Pink PLBs when compared to the other homogenates and sugar types.