Macronutrient absorption by banana explants in vitro

The absorption of the nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) by banana (Musa sp. ) cv. Prata Ani explants on the basic medium of Murashige & Skoog (1962) su pplemented with sucrose (30 g/L) and BAP (3.5 mg/L) were evaluated at 0, 10 , 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 days after inoculation. The seven treatments were a rranged on a completely randomized design with three replicates. The sequen ce of nutrient absorption by the explants was K > N > Ca greater than or eq ual to P > Mg congruent to S. The P was the nutrient with the fastest absor ption rate and at the 30th day the explants had already absorbed 75% of the P from the medium. The P absorption stopped by the 50th day. The S absorpt ion stopped at the 50th day with 66% of it remaining in the medium. The res ults suggested a close relationship between these two nutrients. The highes t rates of nutrient absorption were observed during the first 20 days of cu lture. The rhizome, pseudostem and leaves behaved differently to the extrac tion and accumulation of nutrients.