Cryopreservation of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.)

BACKGROUND: Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) has great potential for utilisation in pharmaceutical and food industries. OBJECTIVE: The study was to develop an efficient cryopreservation approach for quince. METHODS: Factors on the survival and regrowth such as cold acclimation, explant type and recovery media composition were assessed. The effectiveness of the resultant protocols for a number of quince cultivars was determined. RESULTS and CONCLUSION: Quince shoot tips and nodal sections are successfully cryopreserved. Sustained regrowth of quince 'Angers A' was observed after encapsulation-osmoprotection/dehydration, encapsulation-dehydration and PVS2 vitrification. The highest regrowth rate (80%) was obtained from explants excised from cold hardened shoots and cryopreserved using encapsulation-osmoprotection/dehydration and vitrification protocols. The optimised vitrification protocol in combination with shoot cold hardening and a MS recovery medium without activated charcoal and auxin resulted in satisfactory regrowth of shoots from six quince cultivars. The morphology of acclimatised plants derived from cryopreserved shoots was comparable with non-cryopreserved plants.