Biotech Studies 2016, Vol 25, Num, 2     (Pages: 301-305)

Preconditioning Treatments Affect Regeneration on Different Sized Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Corms

Mehmet Uğur YILDIRIM 1 ,Fethi Ahmet ÖZDEMİR 2 ,Parisa Pourali KAHRİZ 3 ,Farzad NOFOUZİ 3 ,Khalid Mahmood KHAWAR 3

1 Uşak Üniversitesi, Ziraat ve Doğa Bilimleri Fakültesi, Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü, Uşak
2 Bingöl Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik Bölümü, Bingöl
3 Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü, Ankara
DOI : 10.21566/tarbitderg.282856 - Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), spices, dyes, and is an economically important plant used for medicinal purposes, is propagated vegetatively. Fast multiplication of saffron corms under controlled conditions has great importance in agriculture. This study aimed to identify best hormon concentrations and times of treatment suitable for propagation of saffron corms with circumference of 3.14 - 4.71 cm (small corms) and 4.71 - 6.28 cm (large corms) under ex vitro conditions. The study was carried out in greenhouse under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity in plastic enclosures containing peat moss. Each treatment contained 15 korms divided in to three replications and each corm was planted at depth of 1 - 1.5 cm. Each corm was treated for 50, 100, 150 and 200 min with 5 ng/μl BAP and 5 ng/μl BAP + 150 ng/μl GA3. According to the results, 5 ng/μl BAP and 5 ng/μl BAP + 150 ng/μl GA3 treatment for 200 min induced 80% cormlets on both small and large corms. Large corms treated for 200 min with 5 ng/μl BAP induced largest (1.48 cm) cormlets of the BAP treatment. Considering the number of offspring per mother corm maximum number of cormlets (3.25 cormlets) were induced after 150 min treatment with 5 ng/μl BAP. It is contemplated that the results obtained in this study will have far reaching effects on future saffron propagation practices. Keywords : Ex vitro, corm size, plant growth regulators, saffron cultivation, pre hormone treatment