Vol. 82 No: 3

Title:
Chemical composition and in vitro propagation of Agave salmiana 'Gentry'

Authors:
H. SILOS-ESPINO, N. GONZÁLEZ-CORTÉS, A. CARRILLO-LÓPEZ, F. GUEVARA-LARA, M.E. VALVERDE-GONZÁLEZ and O. PAREDES-LÓPEZ

pp: 355-359

Abstract:
Maguey cv. ´Manso` (Agave salmiana ´Gentry`) is the source of ´aguamiel` (honey water) for human consumption as a natural fortifying beverage, and of leaves for forage. Levels of iron and zinc in aguamiel are sufficient to satisfy daily human requirements, provided people consume approx. 850 ml aguamiel d<sup>-1</sup>. A. salmiana leaves can be used as a forage supplement to cover the requirements of cattle for minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and copper. Protein expression in honey water was analysed and a protein of approx. 16 kDa was obtained. According to their chemical composition, Agave leaves have high nutritional value as forage. A culture of A. salmiana ´Gentry` was initiated from stem explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with indoleacetic acid (IAA) and different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA). Optimum numbers of shoots (20.3 ± 3.2) per explant were obtained with 2.0 mg l^-1 BA plus 0.25 mg l^-1 IAA. For rooting, shoots were cultivated on MS medium supplemented with different levels of IAA (0 - 1.0 mg l^-1). The highest number of roots (4.0 ± 0.5) and the longest roots (16.6 ± 7.6 cm) were obtained with 0.2 mg l^-1 IAA. All rooted plants were successfully adapted to field conditions. Regenerated plants were morphologically similar to field-grown mother plants.

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