Improvement of bananas Through gamma ray irradiation

Issue Date

8-2013

Abstract

Banana is the second most widely- grown fruit crop in the Philippines and considered as the number one dollar earner and export winner. out of the diverse types and kind of banana, cultivar 'Lakatan' is the most popular in the domestic and to some extent in the export market. However, no improvement and breeding activities for this crop in the Philippines has been done due to its long life cycle and sterility trait. In order to address this, mutation breeding through gamma irradiation can be an alternative solution. This research was conducted to determine the LD₅₀ for 'Lakatan'' (shoot tips) and two variants (embryo and cell suspension), and to develop a 'Lakatan' cultivar with improved postharvest trait. Radio sensitivity test on shoot tip cultures established that the LD₅₀ is the 50Gy gamma ray. Mutation induction was carried out for 500 shoot tips using 50Gy gamma ray treatment. Gamma irradiated plants were evaluated for four generations. Mutations were observed in the bunch weight, number of hands per bunch, number of fingers per hand, and shelf life. Hence, the preliminary findings suggest the potential of induced mutation through gamma ray irradiation as an alternative technique in developing/generating bananas with specific trait of interest.

Source or Periodical Title

Philippine Journal of Crop Science

ISSN

0115-463x

Volume

38

Issue

2

Page

47-53

Document Type

Article

Frequency

tri-quarterly

Physical Description

tables, graphs, picture

Language

English

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