Micropropagation of garlic
Garlic is an important culinary and medicinal plant and most commonly used for conditions include high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol or other fats (lipids) in the blood (hyperlipidemia), and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Currently, Pa
2025-06-28 16:34:07 - Adil Khan
Micropropagation of garlic
Project Area of Specialization Biomedical EngineeringProject SummaryGarlic is an important culinary and medicinal plant and most commonly used for conditions include high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol or other fats (lipids) in the blood (hyperlipidemia), and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Currently, Pakistan is spending precious foreign exchange on the import of garlic due to high demand and low yield. Latest estimates showed that the country is importing 34,375 tonnes of garlic worth Rs66 million.
Micropropagation have certain advantages over conventional propagation like producing multiple plants in shorter period of time in a confined space, producing disease free and identical plants with desirable horticulture traits using plant tissue culture technique all under controlled environment. The plant grown in vitro can easily be transferred to soil at a specific growth stage that can withstand environmental shocks easily comparative to young plantlets emerging from seeds.
In this study an efficient novel method of direct somatic embryogenesis will be developed. The influence of plant growth regulators, basal medium and explant type on somatic embryo induction will be examined.
Project ObjectivesTo study the effects of different basal media, plant growth regulators (PGRs) and explant types on in vitro tissue culture response of garlic.
Project Implementation MethodMedia Preparation:
MS and white media will be used as basal media. Different concentration of plant growth regulator will be added in basal media for induction of somatic embryogenesis. pH will be adjusted to 5.9 before autoclaving at 121 C, for 20 minutes.
Explant Preparation:
Cloves and shoot tips will be used as explant. Explant will be surface sterilize at 0.1% HgCl for 15 minutes and 70% ethanol for 30 seconds. It will be washed several times with sterile distilled water. The explant will be inoculated into media containing different concentration of plant growth regulator. All the cultures will be incubated at 25 degrees in a culture room under 16-h photoperiod provided by cool white fluorescent light giving an intensity of 40 Wm till seven weeks.
Embryo count:
From the tested plant growth regulator concentration, number of somatic embryos are produced per explant will be counted after five weeks. This experiment will be repeated several times to obtain mean values with ± standard deviations.
Benefits of the ProjectThe Induction of garlic for somatic embryogenesis has evolved massively in Agriculture Biotechnology. With a number of benefits, it implements, here are a few below:
- A large number of plants can be produced with the help of this experiment. A person can obtain about 1,000,000 plants per year from one simple explant.
- It produces disease-free and virus-free plants. This means that no disease or any virus is found in the plants that are grown.
- The new plants contain the genetic material of only one parent, so they are essentially clones of the parent plant. This means that, once you have a plant with desirable traits, you can reproduce the same traits indefinitely, as long as the growing conditions remain similar. This is especially important for commercial growers who want to reproduce the highest-quality plants and ensure consistency of a variety of plant or crop for sale. This can also help to maintain consistent quality and taste in products made from plants or crops.
- Plants also bypass the immature seedling phase and therefore reach the mature phase sooner. This can save a lot of time and money for commercial plant production.
In this study somatic embryogenic system will be developed which would certainly have a great future potential in problems associated with plant regeneration and virus elimination in garlic.
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry AgricultureOther IndustriesCore Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 65000 | |||
| Media | Equipment | 1 | 25000 | 25000 |
| Glass ware | Equipment | 1 | 20000 | 20000 |
| Plastic Ware | Equipment | 1 | 20000 | 20000 |