COCONUT MILK ENHANCEMENT OF AXILLARY SHOOT GROWTH IN-VITRO OF KIWIFRUIT

We sought to improve methods for micropropagation of kiwifruit (Actini dia deliciosa var. deliciosa) by enhanced axillary branching. We added 10% coconut milk to the treatment medium before autoclaving. We then measured shoot length, shoot freshweight, petiole length, number of si ngle nodes, leaf area, and basal callus freshweight of shoots from the control and treatment media. The addition of 10% coconut milk signifi cantly increased all six shoot parameters over 74 days of incubation. The number of single nodes produced, shoot length, petiole length, and leaf area were approximately doubled. Statistically significant linea r correlations between basal callus freshweight and all shoot paramete rs measured, except leaf area, were found only in the coconut milk-sup plemented medium. This suggests the basal callus was acting as a pseud oroot.