In vitro cormlet production of saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

Abstract Abstract Crocus sativus is a triploid plant from Iridaceae family, which is propagated only via mother corms. The use of In vitro culture techniques can accelerate the propagation of this plant in order to comply with the increasing demands of farmers to this important medicinal plant. The purpose of this research was to find out a proper protocol to cormlet production on the mother corms collected in August and early September which cold pre-treated. To this end, samples of two different bulk of corms were collected from Qaen, Souht Khorassan. Samples were kept at 31 °C for 13 to 15 weeks. After sterilization, samples were then transferred into half strength MS culture medium with 6% sucrose, 2 mg/l IBA and 2, 4 and 6 mg/l BAP, the control treatment was lacking growth regulators. The results showed that there were no significant differences between different concentrations of plant growth regulators in cormlet production. However, the samples collected in August were significantly different in number of cormlet per mother corm and cormlet diameter. According to the results, the use of sufficient cold pre-treatment on corms harvested in August and culture in 1/2 MS medium without any growth regulators is recommended for the production of micro-corms through in vitro culture, which is also economically important.