IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF THE SNAKE GRASS (Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. F.) Lindau) FROM STEM SEGMENTS

Abstract

The snake grass (Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. F.) Lindau) is known as the traditional medicinal  plant in many Asia countries due to their ability to prevent of cancer. However, no information of tissue culture of this plant was recorded in Vietnam. In this study, stem segments of Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. F.) Lindau were used as explants for in vitro propagation. Results showed that the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium added 0.5 mg.L^-1 BAP was a suitable medium for generated microshoots, the average shoot number per explants was 5.00, the average length of the shoots was 3.79 (cm), the average leaf number per shoots was 7.50 after cultured 8 weeks. Regenerating shoots grown strongly. The rooting medium was MS supplemented 0.2 mg.L^-1 IAA, the average root number of in vitro shoots was 3.20 and the average length of roots was 5.05 cm after 4-weeks culture. In vitro plants were transferred into mixture of rice husks and soil (1:1) to harden, the survival percentage reached 100%. This results could provide a bright opportunity to develope the snake grass in the field.