Indole -3- Butyric Acid Induces Plant Regeneration From Stem Cuttings Of Three Medicinal Plants

Field regeneration of three (3) medicinal plants - Securidaca longepedunculata (violet tree), Ocimum gratissimum (scent leaf) and Pterocarpus mildebraedii by means of rooting of stem cuttings at different lengths of 10 -15 cm and 15 -20 cm were studied. The effect of the plant hormone Indole-3-Butyric acid (IBA) at 5g/l was tested on rooting, bud sprout and leaf formation of the rooted stem cuttings of the plant species as well as the effect of the length of the stem cuttings on their growth and survival rates. The results of the study revealed that stem cuttings of O. gratissimum treated with IBA and the control treatment sprouted within 5 - 8 days. The treated O. gratissimum stem cuttings produced a slightly higher number of buds (2.58 ± 0.86) when compared to the control (2.00 ± 0.89) with no significant difference at P ≤ 0.05. Stem cuttings of the treated P. mildbraedii cuttings sprouted within 8 -10 days with 1.40 ± 0.37 number of buds, with the control showing no sprouts. Consequently, IBA application produced more leaves (13.00 ± 5.58) and roots (1.33 ± 0.01) than the control. However, O. gratissimum stem cuttings had the highest leaf (13.08 ± 4.47) and root numbers (135.00 ± 13.45) followed by the control with values- 13.00 ± 5.58 for leaf development and 61.66 ± 2.34 for root number respectively. Irrespective of the treatments, none of the stem cuttings of S. longepedunculata sprouted. This study showed that exogenous application of IBA to stem cuttings of the tested plants, except S. Longepedunculata, improved the root number, number of leaves and number of buds. Keywords: Stem cuttings, Indole-3-Butyric acid (IBA), Rooting