ABSTRACT
Musa acuminata Colla var. microcarpa (Becc), is one of fifteen types of wild bananas in Indonesia. The storage of bananas is difficult because banana seeds are inside and are a fast decaying fleshy part of the fruit. Germination of intact seeds either fails to germinate or has a low percentage of germination because there is an incompatibility with seed formation. This study aimed to find the ability for wild banana germination after storage through embryo culture. The banana embryos were cultured on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 2.25 mg/l−1 of 6-benzyladenine and 0.175 mg/l−1 of indole-3-acetic acid. The total number of embryos inoculated was 1,800. This study showed that storage of bananas at three different temperatures for a 60 days period, made the embryo unable to germinate. Most of the embryos germinated in a storage period of 4 to 10 days, whereas 76% germinated when stored at cold temperatures for 30 days. For banana seeds stored at different temperatures for 4 to 10 days, 70–76% of the embryos germinated. For banana seeds stored at cold temperatures for a 30 days period, 84% of the embryos germinated, and for a 60 days period, 68%. This research shows that the best short-term storage of wild banana seeds was in a cold temperature (1 to 5°C) for a 30 days period. The germinated embryos of wild banana were then multiplied in MS medium for four months to produce shoots and calli before acclimatization in a greenhouse.
