Abstract:
An increase in the international market demand of coconuts poses a threat to the
country's bodies of water since the surplus product which is coconut water, is thrown into
rivers further increasing the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). In an attempt to lessen
this effect, coconut water was instead used as a plant growth enhancer to enhance the
growth of ornamental plants and the yield as well in agricultural crops since coconuts are
known to contain the plant growth hormone, cytokinin. In this study, the effects on shoot
growth, root proliferation and number of leaves of the different fractions of coconut water
growth hormones from coconut water extracts were evaluated using stem cultures of
Musa sp. The first part tested the effects of the following treatments on stem cultures of
Musa sp,: MS w/o BAP (negative control), MS + BAP (positive control), MS + water
extract, MS + alcohol extract and MS + Cocogro. Ultraviolet spectral analysis was done
on the coconut water extracts thereafter to detect the plant hormones present in them. Significant increase in shoot height was exhibited by coconut water extracts over the
positive control, MS + BAP, and the negative control, MS w/o BAP. Though there were
no significant differences among the coconut extracts in shoot growth and in the number
of leaves, a significant difference occurred in the number of roots as stem cultures in MS
+ water extract obtained a mean value of 9.9000. The lowest were MS + BAP and MS +
alcohol extract with mean values of 1.8000 and 1.5000, respectively. Ultraviolet spectral
analyses of the three coconut extracts showed that they were a concoction of different
plant growth hormones. The peaks matched certain plant hormones while the broad peaks
indicated an overlap of different plant hormones detected resulting to various effects
observed in the Musa sp. stem culture. Though the amount of the plant hormones found
in the coconut water extracts cannot be quantified due to the fastidious process the
extracts underwent, the tests conducted were sufficient to suggest the effect of the
coconut water extracts in promoting growth in stem cultures Qi Musa sp.
