Efficiency Evaluation of Vanda Tricolor Growth in Temporary Immerse System Bioreactor and Thin Layer Culture System Rizkita R. Esyanti Department of Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jln. Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132 Indonesia Email: rizkita@sith.itb.ac.id Nikko Adhitama and Robert Manurung Department of Bioengineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jln. Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132 Indonesia Email: nikko@alumni.itb.ac.id Abstract—Vanda tricolor (aliases: Vanda suavis) is one of native orchid species found in Indonesia and surrounding countries in SE Asia. It is economically important due to its unique and fragrant smell of its flower. This unique properties increases the demand of this orchid. In order to match the consumer’s demand, one of the solutions to mass- produce V. tricolor is by using micropropagation method by thin layer liquid medium and temporary immerse system (TIS) bioreactor. In this study, shoot culture of V. tricolor is cultivated in full MS media with addition of coconut water using two different systems, thin layer and TIS bioreactor. Two different variations of immersion period of 5 and 10 minutes every 12 hours is given in culture in TIS bioreactor. After 21 days, both systems were analyzed to determine which system and parameter was efficient in accordance to visual and viability analysis, biomass production, and medium utilization (conductivity, and sugar consumption). The result showed that shoots culture in TIS bioreactors are more viable and visually better than in thin layer system. Thin layer system has the highest sugar utilization and conductivity decrease with the value of 4.854 g and 7.52 mS respectively. Largest biomass production occurs in thin layer system with specific growth rate of 0.056/day. Based on visual and viability analysis, biomass production, and medium utilization, this study conclude that TIS bioreactor is more efficient in producing V. tricolor shoot. Index Terms—immersion period, temporary immersion I. INTRODUCTION Vanda tricolor is one of native orchid species found in Indonesia and some surrounding countries in SE Asia. It is economically important due to its fragrant smell and uniqueness of the flower [1]. The unique properties of the flower has led to massive exploitation, so that the population of this orchid in their natural habitat is significantly decreasing. In order to fulfill demand of Manuscript received April 29, 2015; revised July 2, 2015. consumer, a sustainable method to produce this orchid is required. Conventional method to reproduce the orchid by using nursery is time consuming as well as not economical in term of production and maintenance cost. One of the sustainable method is by micropropagation. This method has proven to be quite efficient for mass production of plants with minimum use of space and resources. However, micropropagation using solid or liquid medium culture face several technical problems, such as uneven nutrient uptake and distribution, hyperhydricity, and the extensive use of man labor [2]. One way to overcome the aforementioned problems is by making modification to the liquid medium culture system by using Temporary Immerse System (TIS). TIS bioreactor is a modified liquid culture system where the immersion of explant happens periodically [3]. In this bioreactor, the medium contained nutrients is periodically immersed the explant thus eliminate the chance of anoxia or hyperhydricity, while the explant still acquire sufficient nutrient supply [4]. Conclusively, this system not only combines the advantages of solid and liquid culture system but also eliminates the disadvantages of both. Previous studies of Phalaenopsis micropropagation using TIS bioreactor showed a significant increase of biomass compared to that by using liquid and solid medium [5]. Other studies using Prunus and Malus showed that the multiplication rate did not differ on solid medium and in TIS bioreactor, but hyperhydricity was present to a certain degree on solid medium but never in temporary immersion system [6]. As previous studies using Phalaenopsis orchid showed better result in TIS bioreactor system, studies using other types of orchids is yet to be done. Therefore, in this research, shoot culture of V. tricolor orchid was cultivated in full MS media with the addition of coconut water in two different systems, i.e. thin layer and TIS bioreactor. Two different variations of immersion period of 5 and 10 minutes every 12 hours were also applied to the culture in TIS bioreactor. After 21 days, both systems 63 © 2016 Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies doi: 10.18178/joaat.3.1.63-66 Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies Vol. 3, No. 1, March 2016 system, thin layer, vanda tricolor