Tongling white ginger is a Chinese geographical indication product valued for its medicinal and culinary uses. However, traditional rhizome-based propagation has low multiplication efficiency, pathogen accumulation, and germplasm degradation, which limits large-scale cultivation and long-term variety maintenance.

A research team led by Prof. WU Lifang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed an efficient virus-free propagation technique for Tongling white ginger (Zingiber officinale cv. Tongling). The study was published in Industrial Crops and Products.

Using rhizomes from elite Tongling white ginger lines, researchers established an integrated propagation process that includes explant sterilization, adventitious bud induction, shoot tip virus elimination, virus detection, rapid propagation, and genetic stability evaluation.

This process achieved a maximum multiplication coefficient of 68.41, and acclimatized plantlets showed a 100% survival rate after transplantation, enabling direct field cultivation. Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular marker analysis confirmed the genetic stability of regenerated plants after repeated subculture.

"The process illustrates virus elimination and high-efficiency regeneration in Tongling white ginger," said Dr. WANG Dacheng, one author of the study. This work provides technical support for the large-scale production of high-quality seedlings, and lays a foundation for germplasm conservation and breeding improvement.