+44 330 818 7254Satyajit Kanungo and Santi Lata Sahoo
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, commonly known as (Ashwagandha) belongs to the family Solanaceae, is one of the important medicinal cash crop in many states of India. It is widely used in the treatment of inflammatory conditions, rheumatism, different types of tumor, tuberculosis, reproductive system, nervous system and is benificial to improve the vitality. In this work the seeds of W.somnifera were collected from Botanical garden of P.G. Department of Botany, Utkal University. The fresh seeds were inoculated in to ½ MS medium and the germination was initiated after 7 days. Germinated seedlings were allowed to grow for one month till the plantlet attain a height of 3-4 cm. Fresh plantlets were transferred to liquid MS medium for better devlopment of root and shoot system. Apical parts of the plant were excised and inoculated into fresh Revised Tobacco medium (RT) supplemented with 1mili gram/Litre of 2,4-D. The explant was allowed to grow for further differentiation. After 15 days it was observed that direct rhizogenesis was more than shoot development. Along with shoot/root differentiation there was also initiation of callus but frequency of callogenesis was very low. Further root and shoot development was maintained in the same medium for next two weeks, and the plants then transfered pots containing a sterilized mixture of garden soil, vermicompost and sand in (1:1:1) ratio. The pots were maintained at a temperature of 25±20C with required humidity and 16 hours light/day for 1 month. In vitro raised plantlets were successfully transferred to the field. About 90% of plantlets were survived in the garden soil. Overall a short term protocol was developed for propagation of Withania somnifera.
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