Vol. 10, Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
Gandamalla Madhuri, Siddharth Kumar Palai and Sashikala Beura

Abstract:
Phalaenopsis orchids have high economic value in the floriculture industry. In vitro techniques are being widely used for large scale multiplication of Phalaenopsis.An experiment was conducted at Biotechnology-cum-Tissue Culture Center, Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, CA, OUAT, Bhubaneswar during 2016-18 to standardize the method of sterilization of explants using HgCl₂ (0.1%) and NaOCl (0.5% and 1%) solution. The effect of treatment duration of HgCl₂ and NaOCl, either alone or in combinations, on flower stalk explants was studied. Results revealed that the explants treated with 0.1% HgCl₂ (3 min) followed by 1% NaOCl (2 min) resulted in minimum percentage of fungal infection (3.33%), and bacterial infection (0.00%). The same treatment recorded maximum percentage of aseptic culture (96.67%) and maximum survival percentage of explants (96.67%).