Micropropagation of Cattleya maxima J. Lindley in Culture Medium with Banana Flour and Coconut Water

Author(s): Joe A Vilcherrez-Atoche, Consuelo Rojas-Idrogo, Guillermo E Delgado-Paredes

Cattleya maxima J. Lindley is one species of the large-flowered, epiphyte and occasional lithophyte of the Orchidaceae family, seriously threatened by indiscriminate extraction and destruction of their natural habitat, climate change and pollution. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to establish a reproducible in vitro propagation and mass multiplication protocol for germplasm conservation of this species in natural conditions. Seeds of C. maxima were provided by the “Orquídeas Moyobamba” greenhouse, in Moyobamba, San Martín, Peru, of peruvian low jungle. Process began with the culture of viable seeds by hypodermic syringe method. Viability, seeds germination, the morphogenic processes of induction and multiplication of protocorm-like bodies (PLBs), elongation and differentiation of seedlings were determined. The Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with two complex organic substances, coconut water and banana flour, was used, as well as the NAA-BAP treatment. The highest germination rate of seeds was 97.12% in treatment with 40 g/l BF and 20% CW, and in the treatment with NAA-BAP, rates of 100% formation and survival of PLBs were reached. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized and subsequently established under greenhouse conditions, with a survival rate of 70%. In this study, a relevant in vitro propagation protocol, using banana flour and coconut water, was established. This protocol can contribute to the ex situ conservation of germplasm of C. maxima and other endangered orchid species of the Peruvian jungle.