Equipe Génétique et Amélioration des Espèces, Laboratoire Biosciences, Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Université Joseph KI-ZERBO, 03 BP 7021 Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso
Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) is an under-exploited crop in Burkina Faso, although it can contribute to food self-sufficiency. The major constraint to promoting its cultivation is the unavailability of healthy seeds. Corms are rich in water (75%) and nutrient reserves, making them difficult to store. The use of plant biotechnologies is one of the effective means of overcoming this problem, hence the interest of this study, which focuses on the response of a local variety of taro (Tabouchi) to a phytohormone (6-benzylaminopurine) in in vitro culture. After budding, the resulting buds were disinfected with NaClO at different doses (2.75, 3 and 3.7%). The disinfected explants were subcultured on ½MS medium supplemented with BAP (2; 4 and 6 mg/L). Seven quantitative characteristics were measured during the trial. With regard to disinfection, the 3.7% NaClO dose showed the lowest contamination rate (43.33%). The culture medium containing 6 mg/L BAP induced sprout tip by inhibiting the root system of vitro plants. All the growth parameters measured showed better performance in the control medium, except for the number of shoots (NR). The control medium did not produce any shoots, even though it promoted the development of the in vitro plants’ root system. The medium containing 6 mg/L BAP would be recommended for the production of shoots, while the control medium would be favorable for the regeneration of plants without shoots.