Utilization of coconut water for in vitro shoots multiplication of Pogostemon cablin Benth. ‘Sidikalang’ and essential oil profile

Pogostemon cablin Benth. cv. Sidikalang (Acehnese patchouli) is one of the essential oil-producing plants which has therapeutic properties and fixative materials for perfume, so the demand for patchouli oil is relatively high. However, this advantage of patchouli is in contrast with the low quality of patchouli oil and its fluctuating prices in the international market. Therefore, patchouli's plant tissue culture technique is developed to obtain oil with a similar and a better quality one, which is characterized by the high level of patchouli alcohol in patchouli oil. This study aims to determine the effect of coconut water and BAP (6-Benzyl Amino Purine) of in vitro shoots multiplication of Pogostemon cablin Benth. ‘Sidikalang’ and to compare the in vitro essential oil profile to the native plant. Hence, in vitro shoots multiplication of patchouli in this study was done by using solid and liquid MS (Murashige-Skoog) medium with the treatment of 10% coconut water, 15% coconut water, 10% coconut water + 0.5 mg/L BAP, 15% coconut water + 0.5 mg/L BAP, and 0.5 mg/L BAP. Patchouli leaves hydrodistillation was done for six-weeks-old shoots derived from liquid MS medium with the giving of 0.5 mg/L BAP, which had the best growth index (24.94±3.38). Morphologically, the growth of patchouli in the solid medium was not as good as in the liquid medium because more rosette shoots were found. The analysis results of UV-Vis spectrophotometry and gas chromatography showed that in vitro essential oil profile were the same as the native plant (ex vitro) and its commercial patchouli oil.