Influence of culture medium and age of zygotic embryos on in vitro germination of Elaeis guineensis Jacq.

Oil palm cultivation has acquired economic importance due to rising demand for vegetable oils used in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and most recently, in biofuel industries. However, the commercial production increase of oil palm is limited by plantlet production, as it primarily uses seeds that require a long germination period and have low germination rates. In this study we evaluated the effect of embryo age (time after pollination), culture media and presence of carbohydrates on in vitro germination of zygotic embryos of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Manicore hybrid. Embryos at 80, 90, 100 and 110 days post-anthesis were inoculated in MS medium or modified Y3 medium, with or without 3% sucrose. Media were renewed after 30 days of inoculation, and plantlets were kept for 45 days until collection for histological analyses. The embryos did not germinate in medium without sucrose. Embryos of 100 days post-anthesis in MS medium showed the best result for germination rate (88%), which did not differ statistically from Y3 medium. As for the parameters, 90-day embryos showed better results for number and length of roots in Y3 medium. It was concluded that 90-day embryos cultivated in Y3 medium generate plantlets in better conditions to be transferred to acclimatization.   Key words: Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), germination, sucrose, Y3 medium, MS, anatomy, embryo culture.