European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
Gabriel Kanmegne, Mariette Anoumaa

Abstract
The establishment of an efficient protocol for vegetative propagation is still a challenge for Garcinia kola, a priority target for domestication and conservation in the humid tropics of Africa. The present study addressed the effects of three ranges of leaf area and six concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) on the propagation of stem cuttings. Results showed that, when considering all auxin concentrations taken together, leafless cuttings resulted in the average mortality rate of 76.12 ± 2.22%, which was higher than 10.62 ± 2.22% and 12.22 ± 2.22 % recorded with 35-40 cm² and 70-80 cm² respectively. Auxin concentration had no significant individual effect on the mortality rate. Combining 35-40 cm² leaf area with 4% IBA resulted in the overall lowest mortality rate (6.62 ± 4.62%). Leafless cuttings failed to root. When considering all ranges of leaf area together, the percentage of rooted cuttings and the number of roots per rooted cutting both increased with increasing IBA concentrations and reached their highest values (79.31 ± 7.42% and 8.15 ± 0.17 respectively) with 4% IBA. The overall highest percentage of rooted cuttings (92.91 ± 6.24%) and highest roots count (8.25 ± 0.23) were recorded with [35-40 cm² X 4% IBA] combination. These results make progress towards the establishment the clonal propagation protocol for commercial and conservation planting of this high valued threatened species.