Background: Plant tissue culture involves the use of explants obtained from plants to induce organogenesis with the help of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Micropropagation techniques provide a faster and economical solution to the limitations associated with traditional methods of plant cultivation. The present study focuses on the multiple shoot induction and proliferation of Ficus carica var. Black Jack. Factors that influence the growth of in vitro multiple shoots on the apical buds, which include growth media and PGRs, were investigated in this study. Different concentrations of cytokinins like 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), Thidiazuron (TDZ), and Kinetin (Kin) were used on woody plant medium (WPM) for the optimization of media for multiple shoot induction and proliferation.

Results: Apical buds of Ficus carica var. Black Jack growing in WPM supplemented with BAP produced the healthiest plantlets, with the highest number of multiple shoots. The most efficient medium composition which produced the highest number of multiple shoots (37.8) per growing explant was WPM supplemented with 20 µM BAP. Proliferated multiple shoots were efficiently rooted using WPM + 20 µM BAP + 8 µM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). This optimized medium composition significantly enhanced the production of multiple, disease-free plantlets using single apical bud explants of Ficus carica var. Black Jack.

Conclusions: In the present study the observations indicate that WPM supplemented with 20 µM BAP is the best-suited medium for organogenesis and multiple shoot culture of Ficus carica var. Black Jack, and this technique can be potentially applied for commercialization of the plant.