Hort. Sci. (Prague), X:X | DOI: 10.17221/35/2025-HORTSCI

Somatic embryogenesis and in vitro plant regeneration of Manzano (AAB) and Pelipita (ABB) banana cultivarsOriginal Paper

Adrián José Enríquez-Valencia ORCID...1, Martín Mata-Rosas ORCID...2, Claudia-Anahí Pérez-Torres ORCID...3, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette ORCID...1
1 Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados (REMAv), Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL), Xalapa, Veracruz, México
2 2Red de Manejo Biotecnológico de Recursos, Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL), Xalapa, Veracruz, México
3 3Investigador por México-Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (SECIHTI), Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL), Xalapa, Veracruz, México

There is significant interest in the propagation of bananas due to their substantial global economic importance, which is why this study aimed to develop an efficient protocol for in vitro propagation through somatic embryogenesis (SE) of the ‘Manzano’ and ‘Pelipita’ cultivars. Immature male flower bud explants were used for embryogenic callus induction. The ‘Manzano’ cultivar showed a higher percentage of embryogenic callus induction than ‘Pelipita’. Stereomicroscopic observations revealed that the embryogenic callus was asynchronous, as various stages of somatic embryos were noted. White translucent pro-embryogenic callus was efficiently utilized to establish embryogenic cell suspension. The development of different stages in the regeneration process of embryogenic cell suspension was also recorded. Embryos in the late coleoptilar stage, characterized by an opaque white morphology, were selected and transferred to an appropriate medium to evaluate the germination percentage. We found that the germination rate was highly efficient for both cultivars, exceeding 90% when using these embryos in the selected stage. Additionally, we observed that embryos that were 90 days old showed a 10–12% increase in germination compared to those that were 60 days old, confirming the importance of embryo maturation duration and the selection of embryogenic aggregates through the sieving of suspended cells to optimize regeneration efficiency.

Keywords: asexual propagation; bananas and plantains; cell suspension cultures; plant micropropagation

Received: March 11, 2025; Revised: May 12, 2025; Accepted: July 28, 2025; Prepublished online: April 1, 2026 

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