Vol. 11, Special Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
Revathi BS and Beena Thomas

Abstract:
Orchids are the most beautiful flowers and unique group of plants in nature. They are consistently ranked among the best sellers in the global potted plant trade. Today orchids dominate the cut flower and potted plant commerce due to their long-lasting charm, high productivity, seasonal blooming, convenient packing and transportation. Polyploidy can be induced in orchids using antimitotic agents by exploiting the endopolyploid cells or without using it, via in vivo and in vitro techniques. Identification of polyploids can be performed by examining physiological and morphological traits, chromosome counting and flow cytometry. Polyploidy contributes for improvement of several characters in orchids like flower size and shape, aesthetic value, metabolite content, stress tolerance, better ion utilization capacity and development of new hybrid.