Data on germination, growth and morphological changes of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) zygotic embryos during in vitro culturing

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) from being almost unknown crop a mere three decades ago is now the most consumed and the most traded edible oil in the world. It is a highest yielding crop producing on an average 4 to 6 tons of oil per ha per year. Due to its innumerable uses in the food, oleochemicals and biofuel industries, cultivation of oil palm has expanded enormously in recent years. Since oil palm is a perennial monocotyledonous species with a single growing apex, the plant cannot be multiplied vegetatively and the conventional propagation through seed is limited by dormancy. Thus in vitro germination has become the key method for multiplication of elite oil palm genotypes. Although there are several reports on in vitro germination of oil palm, still there is a lack of an efficient & repeatable method. Hence an attempt is made to standardize the suitable culture media for direct germination from mature oil palm zygotic embryos. The data presented here represents the effect of genotypes, pretreatments and culture media on Mean Germination Time, Speed of Germination Index, Shoot Formation Index and Root Formation Index during in vitro culturing of oil palm zygotic embryos.