Micropropagation of Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea)

The study aimed at establishing a protocol to produce arrowroot plants quickly. Seedlings were grown from stem nodes on modified MS medium in controlled growth chamber, green house and filed and again aclimatized in green house on washed sands and soil. Chlorophyll content both of a and b in seedlings were higher in the plants grown in field (32.97 and 9.80 respectively) and likewise greenhouse grown seedlings had greater contents than in plants grown in vitro (16.66 and 3.76 respectively). Plants acclimatized in green house soil for 120 days achieved an average rhizome height up to 32.7 cm along with having higher number of leaves (7.0) and dry weight (100 g) compared to those acclimatized in washed sands (15.00 cm, 7.0 and 50 g respectively). So, the results showed that is possible to obtain rhizomes of arrowroot in less time.