MASS PROPAGATION OF ROBUSTA CLONES: DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BAGS FOR PREGERMINATION OF SOMATIC EMBRYOS BY TEMPORARY IMMERSION

During the 1990s, three major achievements have led to the scaling up of Coffea canephora propagation by somatic embryogenesis: 1) multiplication of embryogenic cells and production of embryos (torpedo stage) in liquid media, 2) pre-germination of embryos by temporary immersion in liquid media (cotyledonary stage), 3) ex vitro germination by sowing directly cotyledonary embryos in the greenhouse. This paper describes the implementation of the pre-germination phase at a commercial scale in the Nestle R&D Center (Tours). The pre-germination is achieved using 10 L-glass jars (up to 20-25,000 pre-germinated embryos per system). The current production capacities are 2.5 M embryos per year, quantity sufficient to potentially regenerate 1.0 M plantlets. Specific disposable plastic bags have also been developed for this purpose and their pros and cons instead of glass jars are discussed.