Suraj Raj Adhikari^1,, Bijaya Pant¹

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal. commonly known as “Aswhoganda”, belongs to the family Solanaceae is an important medicinal plant and a major source of alkaloids and steroids. Induction of callus was observed from stem explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations and combinations of growth hormones viz, 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP), α-Napthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2, 4-D) and kinetin. All the hormone supplemented media gave response for callus growth. The callus was compact and yellowish brown color in all culture condition. The best growth of callus was observed in the MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mgL¹BAP + 1.5 mgL^-1 NAA; followed by MS medium supplement with 0.5 mgL^-1 BAP + 0.5 mgL^-1 NAA, 0.5 mgL^-1 BAP + 2.0 mgL^-1NAA and 1.0 mgL^-1 BAP + 1.5 mgL^-1NAA at 8 weeks. Mass production of callus might be used for production and isolation of secondary metabolites for medicinal propose in W. somnifera.

Withania somnifera, phytohormone, callus, NAA, BAP, 2, 4-D, kinetin