Both types of nanofibre mats used in the present
study supported initiation and growth of calli in stem
explants of bilimbi and aromatic chilli. There was
a continuous increase in fresh and/or dry weights
of the calli of bilimbi and aromatic chilli on both
types of nanofibre mats throughout the experiment
(Table 1 and Table 2). From the first week of callus
induction in bilimbi stem explants, the fresh weight of
the cultured material on PVDF4 nanofibre mats was
already higher than that on PLA4 nanofibre mats. This
difference was also evident in weeks 2 and 3 (Table 1).
Thus, at the end of the experiment, calli initiated from
bilimbi stem explants had a higher fresh weight (by
20%) when PVDF4 rather than PLA4 nanofibre mats
were used under an otherwise comparable culture
environment and time frame. In contrast, there was
no difference in the dry weights of the calli over
3 weeks on both types of nanofibre mats indicating
that throughout this experiment there was a greater
increase in the water contents of the bilimbi calli
initiated on PVDF4 nanofibre mats.
Interestingly, calli initiated from aromatic chilli
stem explants on PLA4 nanofibre mats had both
higher fresh and dry weights than those cultured on
PVDF4 nanofibre mats throughout the experiment
(Table 2). Thus, at the end of week 3, calli cultured on
PLA4 nanofibre mats had higher fresh and dry weights
by 11% and 49%, respectively, indicating that more
biomass was accumulated when the calli of aromatic
chilli were initiated on PLA4 nanofibre mats.
The fresh and dry weights of the bilimbi and
aromatic chilli calli increased throughout 3 weeks of
callus subculture (Table 3 and Table 4). Therefore,
difference in callus initiation of the two different