Micropropagation has been developed to enhance the multiplication rate in a short time and improve seedling quality. However, microbial contamination is a major problem in micropropagation. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of decontamination of banana explants during in vitro establishment with the addition of the antibiotics sodium ampicillin and chloramphenicol to the culture medium. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design, consisting of five treatments and five replicates. Each replicate consisted of five explants in different concentrations of sodium ampicillin and chloramphenicol for twenty minutes. Antibiotics were added separately to the culture medium at concentrations of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg L-1. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and the means were compared by F test and regression analyses. We evaluated the percentage of contamination by bacteria, fungi and oxidation of the explants. The results showed that antibiotics had control over endogenous contaminants in 'Thap maeo' banana explants. The concentration of 20 mg L-1 of each antibiotic reduced in 70% the incidence of bacteria and fungi.
Musa sp; tissue culture; decontaminants
