Evaluation of some growth regulator effects on encapsulated in vitro-derived microcuttings of three Italian Ficus carica L. genotypes.

In this study, the encapsulation technology based on the calcium alginate coating was applied to some Ficus carica L. genotypes. Uninodal microcuttings (3-4 mm long), excised from in vitro proliferating shoots of three Italian cultivars (‘Bifera’, ‘Palazzo’ and ‘Catalanisca’), were employed. The influence of three different plant growth regulators (PGRs): 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), meta-topolin (MT) and zeatine (ZEA), added to the artificial endosperm, were evaluated. Particularly, the viability, regrowth and conversion parameters of the synthetic seeds were registered after 60 days from the sowing on a hormone-free medium. Results showed that the cultivars ‘Catalanisca’ and ‘Palazzo’ showed the highest viability average rate (90%), followed by ‘Bifera’ (80%). Encapsulated microcuttings regrowth percentage was highest for ‘Palazzo’ (86.7%), followed by ‘Catalanisca’ (81.7%) and ‘Bifera’ (66.7%), while the conversion rate was comparable for the three cultivars (43.4, 40.0 and 48.3%, respectively). A strong interaction between cultivars and PGRs was observed. Moreover, regarding the effect of the PGRs, BAP and MT provided the best results about regrowth and conversion, even if the cultivar ‘Catalanisca’ presented 100% of regrowth with ZEA. To our knowledge, this is the first time, that encapsulation technology has been applied to Italian cultivars of Ficus carica.