Response of Some Cameroonian Cocoyam Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott. Cultivars/ Landraces to Tissue Culture Techniques

Aims: This study was aimed at exploring tissue culture technique as a tool for mass propagation of some Cameroonian cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) cultivars/landraces (red, yellow and white skin colour).

Study Design: The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with three treatments in four replications.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the tissue culture laboratory of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, Bambui, Cameroon, in the first half of 2018.

Methodology: Explants were gotten from three Cameroonian cocoyam landraces (red, white and yellow skin colour). Shoot tips were excised and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 30 g of sucrose, 5ml of ascorbic acid, 4ml of 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP 1mg/l), 1 ml indole-3- acetic acid (IAA 1 mg/l) and 6 g of agar at pH of 5.8±0.1 for shoot initiation and proliferation. Data was collected after 4 weeks (number dead, number rooted, number of roots, number of buds) and 12 weeks (number of leaves, shoot length, number contaminated) of initiation.

Results: All the landraces responded positively to the growth media since none died. The number of explant rooted did not vary significantly (p > .05). The highest number of roots and buds were from the white cultivar, followed by the red cultivar. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p = .05) in most of the parameters measured except for number rooted. Highest numbers of leaves and shoot length were recorded from the red cultivar, followed by the yellow and white cultivars. However, the white cultivar (4.2) was more susceptible to pathogen than the yellow (3.5) and red (2.67) cultivar (F = 19.13, df = 2, 8, p < .001.

Conclusion: Cameroonian cocoyam cultivars responded positively as far as growth parameters are concern on growth media. It is recommended that the three cocoyam cultivars be followed from growth media to the field and evaluate their growth and yield parameters.