Biochemical aspects of single-node cuttings of <i>Ricinodendron heudelotii</i> (Baill.) in relation with rooting

Abstract

Ricinodendron heudelotii (Njansang) is a valuable multipurpose tree species retained for domestication in Central and Western African regions. To measure the ability of rooting in relation with biochemical changes, basal single-node leafy cuttings were treated with different concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and cultured in fine sand media under poly-propagator system. The adventitious rooting was obtained in three distinct stages: Induction (0 to 20 days), initiation (20 to 30 days) and expression (30 to 40 days). Rooting response was higher within nodal cuttings pretreated with IBA than those pretreated with NAA. Polyphenoloxidase activity started to increase both in treated and control cutting during the initiation stage of the experiment and decreased after root emergence only in treated cuttings. Indole-3 acetic acid (IAA)-oxidase activity of auxin treated cuttings decreased as compared to the control. The peroxidase activity in IBA-treated cuttings increased slowly at the initiation stages and lightly at the expression stage. Total phenolic content was higher in IBA-treated cutting particularly at the initiation and expression stages. Phenolics and
polyphenoloxidase might be playing key role for emergence of adventitious rooting and can be used as rooting enhancer in R. heudelotii.

Keywords: Auxins, enzyme activity, nodal cutting, Ricinodendron heudelotii, vegetative propagation

African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(10), pp. 1049-1056