The <i>in Vitro</i> Propagation Techniques for Producing Banana Using Shoot Tip Cultures

Abstract

Banana is an important food crop and the second most important fruit crop. Despite the significant commercial value of the crop, the main production constrain is the availability of reliable and safe planting material. The planting materials obtained through conventional methods (suckers) do not meet the increasing demand for planting and they are of poor quality. Tissue culture is the approach which can solve these problems. Micro propagation of the crop is also faced with challenges which need to be addressed in order to improve its production. Some of the problems which hinder the success of the crop include oxidative browning of the wounded tissues and low number of shoots produce per explant. This review highlights the challenges encountered in tissue culture of banana and explores the in vitro propagation techniques by using shoot tip cultures of banana as the possibilities to overcome these problems.