Ficus deltoidea (or commonly known as mistletoe fig) in various parts of the world mainly
serves as an ornamental shrub or houseplant and found native mainly in Asia tropical region,
for example, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. Studies on the effect of plant
growth regulators on cells production from this plant is important as optimization of cells
production can lead to efficient production of secondary products characterization and
production. An important aspect of the sigmoidal cells growth curve is the growth parameters.
In this work, we model the effect of picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid) on the
growth kinetics of the cell suspension cultures of Ficus deltoidea according to the modified
Gompertz model. The adjusted coefficient of determination showed good agreement between
experimental and predicted data with values ranging from 0.97-0.99. Parameters obtained from
the fitting exercise were maximum cells growth rate (μm), lag time (l) and maximal cells
production (Ymax). The results showed that picloram at concentrations of 3 mg/L and above
were optimal for giving the highest cells growth rate measured as PCV (packed cell volume).
The parameter growth rate obtained from the modelling exercise will be helpful for additional
secondary modelling implicating the consequence of media conditions as well as other factors
on the effect of picloram on the growth rate of cell suspension from this plant.