Abstract
Tissue culture propagation was performed on the spice shrub damiana (Turnera diffusa. Willd.) using MS medium (Murashige and Skoog 1962) supplemented with different combinations of the plant growth regulators, 6-benzyl adenine (BA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Organogenesis of leaf explants from wild plants and explants from propagated cuttings was compared; only the former regenerated complete plants. The highest shooting rate (92%) occurred at a concentration of 10−7 M BA plus 10−6 M IBA. Regenerated shoots were rooted in MS medium without any plant growth regulators. Foliage productivity of the micropropagated plants under field cultivation was determined yearly over 3 years. The yield increased annually for the first two years. The quantity of essential oils in propagated plants was similar to that of wild plants growing nearby. We propose tissue culture propagation of damiana as a viable means of domestication of this wild plant for semi-arid agriculture in Mexico. Commercial propagation would help to conserve wild populations of damiana that are currently threatened by overharvesting.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- BA:
-
6-benzyl adenine
- IBA:
-
indole-3-butyric acid
References
Arias H, Costas F (1976) Plantas medicinales. Biblioteca Práctica, Mexico
Debergh PC, Zimmerman RH (eds)(1990) Micropropagation technology and application. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, pp 3–4
Díaz-Rondero JA, Alcaraz-Meléndez L (1987) Plant Cell Tiss Org Cult 10:39–45
Gamborg OL, Murashige T, Thorpe TA, Vasil IK (1976) In Vitro 12: 473–478
Martínez M (1979) Catálogos de nombres vulgares y científicos de plantas mexicanas. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico
Murashige T, Skoog F (1962) Physiol Plant 15:473–497
Sandoval G (1982) La Damiana (Tumera diffusa. Willd) una revisión bibliográfica y experiencias en su aprovechamiento e inductión al cultivo. Thesis Ingéniera Agrónomo, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Chapingo, Mexico
Vázquez-Duhalt R, Greppin H (1987) Phytochemistry 26:885–889
Vines RA (1960) Trees, shrubs and woody vines of the South West. Texas University Press, Austin
Wiggins IL (1980) Flora of Baja California. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Zar JH (1974) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall Inc, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by G. C. Phillips
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alcaraz-Meléndez, L., Real-Cosío, S. & Bashan, Y. Domestication of micropropagated plants of the spice damiana (Turnera diffusa). Plant Cell Reports 13, 679–682 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231623
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231623