Micropropagation of Yucca Species

Abstract

Yuccas are plants adapted to arid and semiarid regions and have been used as source of food and raw materials and for ornamental purposes. Lately, the interest in this genus has grown due to the presence of potential useful compounds such as saponins and polyphenolics. However, they present very low reproductive rates and virtually all the plants used are wild individuals; as consequence, their natural populations have been depleted. We present an efficient method to establish in vitro cultures of Yucca species starting with seeds and then obtaining shoots from the seedling meristems using cytokinins and auxins. These shoots can be rooted and transferred to soil or can be used as explants for another multiplication cycle. Hence, it is necessary to acquire seeds just once to establish a large-scale micropropagation protocol.