Rapid induction of somatic embryos and production of synthetic seeds from hempedu bumi (Andrographis paniculata) - a malay ethnomedicinal plant

Hempedu Bumi, Andrographis paniculata a popular Malay ethnomedicinal
plant used to treat various kinds of diseases like common cold, fever, liver
disease and snake bite. Andrographolide a bitter compound present in the plant
posses many medicinal properties like anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-HIV
and promising anticancer activity. Large amount of the compound is being
extracted from the plants so there is a need for commercial cultivation of this
plant, but seed dormancy proved to be a major obstacle for this process. So
production of non-dormant synthetic seeds is an alternative to the dormant
natural seeds for the mass cultivation of this plant. Hence the present study is
aimed to produce somatic embryos and synthetic seeds using plant tissue culture
technique. The zygotic embryos from immature seeds of A. paniculata were
inoculated on to MS media containing various auxins (NAA, IBA, 2, 4-D), and
cytokinins (BAP, TDZ and Kinetin) for the induction of somatic embryos. Out
of all the treatments used, only 1.5 mg/L NAA + 0.75 mg/L Kinetin produced
somatic embryos after 6 weeks of culture and the number of somatic embryos
per explant was 9.8 ± 0.6. NAA alone produced rhizogenic calli and NAA along
with BAP produced hard friable white callus, 2, 4-D alone and 2, 4-D with
cytokinins (BAP, Kinetin) produced creamy callus, while IBA alone and in
combination with cytokinins (BAP, Kinetin), TDZ resulted in germination of
embryos into seedlings. The somatic embryos produced were coated with
sodium alginate solution and made into synthetic seeds. The synthetic seeds that
have been produced can be used as planting material and for conservation of the
plant for future uses.