In vitro biomass production of Sideroxylon obtusifolium (Roem & Schult)

Sideroxylon obtusifolium belongs to the family Sapotaceae which occurs in the Southwest and Northeast of Brazil. It is used in folk medicine due to its anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic properties. The intense use of its barks and the lack of cultivation of the plant made rare its occurrence in the natural habitat. This study was performed in order to get information about the biomass production of this native species using the techniques of plant tissues culture. The Murashige & Skoog (1962) and Gamborg et al. (1968) culture media containing auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic and kinetin kin were used for callus induction. Fragments of leaves were used as explants and sterilized with sodium hypochlorite for 40 minutes. The best outcome for callus induction was obtained with concentrations of auxin/kinetin of 0.1 mg/L / 1 mg/L in the Murashige & Skoog culture medium