Propagação da murta in vitro : fases de estabelecimento e multiplicação

The use of medicinal plants for the extraction of active pharmacological agents and precursors for chemical-pharmaceutical chemosynthesis has recently increased. The aim of this work was to study the establishment and multiplication phases of the in vitro propagation of common myrtle (Myrtus communis L.). In the establishment phase, the most suitable disinfection method was found by using increasing concentrations of commercial bleach (10%, 15% and 20%). It was discovered that commercial bleach at 15% allowed better results in the shoots survival rate (87%). The concentrations used to establish the explants from adult plant material did not allow however that all of them survived. This was possibly due to the some release of phenolic substances, and, also, to a certain toxicity of the disinfectant used, especially at the highest concentration. During the multiplication phase it was intended to assess the influence of light, through coloured bottle caps, on the shoots growth rate parameters, but we observed that it had no influence on the average of the longest shoot, on the average of the smaller shoot, and also, on the parameters related to the multiplication rate, the number of shoots and the number of shoot segments