This work aimed to study the influence of plant extracts on the in vitro growth of Rosa x hybrida plantlets, to contribute to the development of new plant growth regulators to propagate such ornamental plant. Methanolic extracts of Saintpaulia ionantha Wendl. (leaves), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. (leaves) and Bougainvillea spectabilis Wild. (leaves and flowers) were employed at 150 and 300 mg.L-1. Flowering plants were used to obtain the extracts. The experiment was carried out in a randomized design, with ten treatments and four repetitions. Culture medium with and without BAP (6-benzylaminopurine) were used as controls. The analyzed variables were shoot number and length, root number and length, and leaves per shoot. Regarding shoot number, all extracts were statistically identical to the control without BAP. When root number and length were taken into account, only the extract of H. rosa-sinensis leaves at 300 mg.L-1 differed from the control without BAP, with values statistically identical to the control with BAP. Except for the H. rosa-sinensis extract, all the others reduced the number of leaves per shoot. Although the observed effects were not as pronounced as those obtained with BAP, these results indicate the presence of plant growth regulators in the studied extracts.
Tissue culture; plant extracts; growth regulators
