Tissue culture population of Musa beccarii
can be developed using suckers and male buds as
explants. Multiple shoots of Musa beccarii were
obtained. The development or growth of explant from
suckers was faster compared to male buds. Within the
same period of culturing, a complete plantlet can be
obtained from the culture of suckers but only somatic
embryos were obtained in the culture of male buds.
Different sterilization technique needs to be used in
culturing male buds and suckers since both explants
have different degree of contamination rates because
of the difference in size and background. Different
types of micropropagation process can be observed in
male buds and suckers. The male buds undergo direct
somatic embryogenesis while the suckers were derived
from the organogenesis pathway. Only two subcultures
were done on the suckers and once on male
buds of Musa beccarii. From observation, it can be
concluded that suckers were more prone to
contamination than male buds. The formation of
phenolic compound on the other hand, was more
visible in male buds.