Optimization of surface sterilization for rhizome and seeds of Etlingera Megalocheilos using Indole-3-Butyric hormone at different concentration

‘Tepus’ or Etlingera megalocheilos belongs to family of Zingerberaceae. It is a wild ginger found mostly distributed in the tropical rainforest. The in vitro propagation of Etlingera megalocheilos was carried out as to mass propagate the potentially medicinal sources for conservation purposes. Conventional propagation of Etlingera megalocheilos is not yet established and limited studies were conducted on the medicinal properties of Etlingera megalocheilos. There is no report available on tissue culture studies of this species. Therefore, the establishment of appropriate surface sterilization protocols is important to initiate a successful in vitro Etlingera megalocheilos. The rhizome buds and seeds of Etlingera megalocheilos were surface sterilized and tested with different concentration and exposure of time of clorox and ethanol as sterilizing agent and incorporation with Indole-3-Butyric hormone to produce a sterile explant. The most effective protocol to produce aseptic explants was by using seed as the explant and treated with 95% of ethanol for 20 minutes with 15% of clorox for 3 minutes. It produced the longest in vitro explant survived. However, contamination could not be fully eliminated due to the contaminants located within the plant tissue. Future studies on in vitro initiation of Etlingera megalocheilos could focus on determination of optimum concentration of plant growth regulator in promoting shoot and rooting for this wild ginger species.