RESUMO
Media and incubation conditions have been defined for highly efficient regeneration of shoots from internode explants of slow and fast growing cultivars of Mentha arvensis. Internodal segments excised from the in vitro raised shoots were inoculated on the MS medium supplemented with combinations of 5 concentrations of l-napthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 3 concentrations of 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP). The media containing 2 Ilg ml-1 NAA, 10 Ilg ml-1 BAP and I Ilg ml-1 NAA, 5 Ilg ml-1 BAP proved best for shoot regeneration and growth responses on cv Himalaya and cv Kalka explants, respectively. In 12 weeks time, on average one explant of cv Himalaya produced about 200 shoots and that of cv Kalka produced about 180 shoots. The Himalaya explants required higher concentrations of NAA and BAP for high efficiency proliferation as compared to the Kalka explants. The experiments demonstrated that internodal tissue in Mentha arvensis can be induced to obtain direct shoot regenerants with high efficiency. The analysis of the RAPD profiles of 100 regenerated plantlets each of cv Himalaya and Kalka showed more than 99.9% homogeneity in bands with respect to the parents.