In Vitro and Cryopreservation Techniques for Conservation of Snow Mountain Garlic

Garlic is an important medicinal herb of culinary value by imparting its flavors and odors to the food. Allicin, a notable flavonoid in garlic, is a powerful antibiotic and antifungal compound. Due to poor bioavailability, garlic is of limited use for oral human consumption. Being sexually sterile, propagation of garlic is done by individual cloves from a bulb which increases the chances of transfer of viral diseases. In this chapter, an efficient and improved regeneration protocol for explant establishment and shoot multiplication under in vitro conditions is described. A high rate of shoot multiplication is obtained on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l BAP, 1.0 mg/l KN, and 2.0 mg/l GA3. Addition of 1.0 mg/l NAA to MS medium resulted in rooting at the shoot bases. A detailed method for encapsulation of explant in sodium alginate beads and their cryopreservation using encapsulation-dehydration is also described.