The Morpho-Somatic and Chromosomal Changes in Colchicine Polyploidy Induction Colocasia esculenta var. Antiquorium

The Morpho-Somatic and Chromosomal Changes in Colchicine Polyploidy Induction Colocasia esculenta var. Antiquorium

Increasing the productivity of Colocasia esculenta var. Antiquorum is very necessary to enhance the mass of tubers. This can be achieved through polyploid mutation method using colchicine to improve tuber size by increasing the number of chromosomes. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of colchicine on morphology and polyploid changes of Colocasia esculenta var. Antiquorum at various concentrations and duration of immersion In vitro. The analysis was carried out as a completely randomized factorial design, with the first factor being colchicine concentration, consisting of 0.0%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1%. The second factor was the immersion time which consisted of 8 and 16 hours. The results showed that the best combination of concentration and immersion time on somatic morphology was 0.075% colchicine with 8 hours and 16 hours of immersion. Meanwhile, the best combination of chromosomal changes was 0.05% colchicine with 16 hours of immersion. These results indicated that the treatment of 0.05% colchicine concentration with a soaking time of 16 hours can be recommended for induction of polyploid mutations in Colocasia esculenta.