Objective :

To evaluate the effect of mineral salts and the use of mannitol on the in vitro conservation of Morus alba L., Acorazonada variety.

Materials and Methods:

In a first experiment, the treatments included different concentrations of the mineral salts (25, 50, 75 and 100 %) in a basal Murashige and Skoog culture medium, with 0,5 mg mL-1 of 6-benzylaminopurine, naphthaleneacetic acid 0,5 mg L-1 and sucrose 30,0 g L-1. In another experiment, different mannitol concentrations (5,0, 10,0 and 15,0 g L-1) were evaluated in basal MS culture medium. As control, the basal Murashige and Skoog culture medium was used with 0,5 mg L-1 of 6-benzylaminopurine, naphthaleneacetic acid 0,5 mg L-1 and 30,0 g L-1 of sucrose.

Results:

The highest survival values (60,0 and 53,3 %), higher length (3,8 and 3,9 cm) and number of active leaves (1,02 and 1,05) of the preserved material were obtained when using the mineral salts at 75 and 100 %. The utilization of mannitol reduced the growth and number of active leaves, but did not improve the survival of the explants. In both experiments, the explants showed stems without leaves and phenolization symptoms.

Conclusions:

The culture medium with the mineral salts at 50 %, 6 benzylaminopurine 0,5 mg L-1, naphthaleneacetic acid 0,5 mg L-1 and 30,0 g L-1 of sucrose favors the in vitro conservation of M. alba, Acorazonada variety, during six months. The utilization of mannitol reduced growth, but did not improve survival and physical condition of the explants during their in vitro conservation.

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