Institute of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, 5023, Philippines
Corresponding author
irisborlongan@gmail.com
The addition of biostimulants in seaweed tissue culture helps produce a large number of good-quality, fast-growing, and uniform seaweed seedlings that could support the eucheumatoid farming industry. Various Ulva species already gained recognition for their potential use as phycobiostimulants in terrestrial crops; however, its growth-promoting potential on cultured seaweed species is not yet fully assessed and subject to further studies. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of a liquid extract (SLE) from the green seaweed Ulva spp. in improving the growth and chl-a content of Eucheuma denticulatum in tissue culture. Seaweed explants were cultured for 45 days in varying concentrations of Ulva SLE (0.01, 0.1, 1, 2, and 3 mL L–1) and one control group (UV-filtered seawater). Among all the treatments, the 1 and 2 mL L–1 concentrations had the highest direct axes formation (99.8–100%) and longest shoot measurements (3.6–3.8 mm). The highest chl-a content was observed in the 2 and 3 mL L–1 Ulva SLE with values of 93.5 ± 10.1 and 90.1 ± 3.0 μg gfw–1, respectively. The present study also revealed the presence of macro- and micronutrients in Ulva SLE, thereby improving the success rates of tissue culture. Thus, it can be a potential alternative to existing nutrient or biostimulant enrichment techniques, which could help address phyconomic issues concerning the availability of good quality and high-yielding eucheumatoid cultivars for large-scale production and minimize losses in seaweed production.