Somatic embryogenesis of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) through suspension culture technique

Mass production of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) through in vitro culture has not been fully explored. Suspension culture has a potency for scaling up the production of somatic embryos to support the mass production of the elite clones. This research aimed to determine the composition of cytokinins that efficiently induce somatic embryogenesis of sago palm in suspension cultures. A clump of friable calli derived from apical meristem culture was used as starting material. The calli were cultured on a modified MS medium with 1-5 mg/L kinetin and 1 mg/L TDZ. The results showed that the calli of sago palm grew well. The highest volume of calli at 5.67 mL was achieved at 1 mg/L kinetin + 1 mg/L TDZ. The lowest calli yield at 3.65 mL was produced at 5 mg/L kinetin + 1 mg/L TDZ. The highest fresh weight of sago palm biomass was achieved at 1 mg/L kinetin + 1 mg/L TDZ (4.2 g/flask). The fastest somatic embryo induction was at 7 weeks after culture in the best treatment (1 mg/L kinetin + 1 mg/L TDZ). At the medium supplemented with 1 mg/L kinetin + 1 mg/L TDZ produced on average 133.7 somatic embryos per flask.