Introduction. Cytokinins enhance axillary shoots, which helps prolific shoot multiplication in vitro. Very few reports are available on biochemical changes associated with this in vitro proliferation of Citrus. The present study was undertaken to find out the influence of two widely used cytokinins on various morphological and biochemical constituents of in vitro proliferated shoots of Citrus species. Materials and methods. Shoots of (0.5 to 1.0) cm long from in vitro proliferated shoots of

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... Citrus species were cultured on MS medium supplemented with eight increasing levels of benzylaminopurine (BAP) or kinetin spread from (0.25 to 2) mg . L -1 . After 6 weeks of culture, morphogenetic characters were observed, and shoot samples were crushed with 5 mL of hot ethanol; the extract collected was used for the estimation of reducing sugars, total phenols, ortho dihydric (OD) phenol, amino nitrogen and protein percentages. Results and discussion. For all the morphogenetic characters studied, except the shoot number, there were significant interactions between the Citrus species and the different concentrations of BAP and kinetine. Increased concentration of cytokinins reduced the amount of total phenol, OD phenol and total protein. Calamondin recorded the lowest percent of reducing sugar and protein. The maximum amount of reducing sugars was recorded for C. volkameriana. Supplementation of BAP resulted in the highest amount of total and OD phenols, whereas kinetin improved the reducing sugar and amino nitrogen. India / Citrus / in vitro culture / plant growth substances / cytokinins / kinetin / 6-benzyladenine / biological development / chemical composition Effet de cytokinines sur les caractéristiques morphologiques, physiologiques et biochimiques de vitroplants d'agrumes. Inde / Citrus / culture in vitro / substance de croissance végétale / cytokinine / kinétine / 6-benzyladénine / développement biologique / composition chimique Effect of cytokinins on characteristics of shoots of citrus in vitro 153