Cost Effective Protocol for Micropropagation of Bacopa Monnieri Using Leaf Explants

Owing to the resurgence in herbal based therapies, plants which serve as raw materials are required in large quantities to meet their increasing demand. Additional efforts are employed through various conventional and non-conventional ways for propagation and conservation of medicinal plants. Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst (Family: Scrophulariaceae) is one such medicinal plant used in Indian traditional systems of cure for various diseases and thus it becomes necessary to conserve this plant species. An efficient, cost effective protocol has been standardized using leaves as explants for in vitro propagation of B. monnieri. Leaves of five different accessions of B. monnieri collected from various regions of North India were cultured on agar gelled Murashige & Skoog (MS) & Gamborg’s (B5) media without the addition of any expensive nutritional supplements (plant growth regulators, growth additives). De novo shoot initiation from leaf explants was observed after 20 days of inoculation accompanied by rooting in the form of a single tap root in all the accessions in both the media tested. Maximum shoots/explant (5.5±0.65), leaves/explant (17.9±0.75) and roots/explant (6.3±0.65) were obtained for leaves of Accession BM003 cultured on MS media. Through this study we conclude that MS media is superior over B5 media for in vitro shoot multiplication and plantlet regeneration of B. monnieri. The protocol can cut down the cost of micropropagation of this endangered herb and also minimize the excessive and reckless use of plant propagation explants (shoot tips, nodes).