Production of pineapple plants in vitro.

In vitro culture of pineapple (Ananas comosus) was studied to determine the efficiency of axillary bud culture for rapid propagation of several cultivars. The technique used maximizes the success rate of various steps in the production of pineapple plants. Rapid mass multiplication of plantlets started 9 months after explanting with a significant log phase. The number of plantlets obtained from the culture of a single bud by the thirteenth month ranged from 210 to 380 for 'Perolera'; 300 to 350 for 'PR-1-67'; and 40 to 85 for 'Smooth Cayenne'. The method permits culture of a range of pineapple cultivars. Little morphological variation was observed in young regenerated plants.