Application of activated charcoal and carbon nanotubes on phenol exclusion from tissue culture media in Grapevine and Paulownia

Numerous factors limit the plant propagation under in vitro conditions. Tissue browning is a serious problem in the establishment of explants in woody perennials and complicates the successful implementation of in vitro techniques. To solve this problem, application of activated charcoal resources was used, hence by controlling the effect on browning of plant tissue culture media the concentration of phenolic compounds was reduced. Furthermore, some easy methods were followed to solve the problem of oxidative browning, especially in Paulownia and Grapevine explants. The present study was conducted in Tissue Culture Laboratory, Dep. of Horticulture, Faculty of Plant Production, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The basal MS medium supplemented with IBA (2 and 4 mg / l, for Grapevine and Paulownia, respectively), was fortified with different concentrations of activated charcoal and carbon nanotubes (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 mg/l). The estimation of phenolic compounds was performed with the calorimetric Folin-Ciocaltea method at 760 nm. The experiment was undertaken as completely randomized design. The results showed that both activated charcoal and carbon nanotubes had positive and significant effects on the absorption of phenol in the culture medium and the propagation of in vitro explants. The results of this study indicated that concentrations of 400 mg/l activated charcoal and 200 mg/l carbon nanotubes can be used as phenol-absorbing carbon sources in the culture media of these plants. Also, after minor modifications, the results of the present may be utilized in commercial propagation of other crops and plant species.