Calli were induced from internodal segments of seedlings or young spears of Asparagus officinalis L. on Murashige and Skoog (MS) liquid medium with 3 mg/l napthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 1 mg/l kinetin (KN) and 3% sucrose. The cultures were grown on a rotary shaker at 100 rev./min at 25°C in a light/dark cycle of 16/8 h (6000 lux from fluorescent lamps). Minicalli in the liquid medium were harvested by sieving through a stainless steel mesh of 1 mm pore size and washed twice with 50 ml of plant growth regulator-free MS liquid medium. An aliquot of 0.6 ml packed cell volume calli were added to 30 ml of PGR-free MS liquid medium and cultured under the same conditions as for callus induction. Somatic embryos obtained 1 month after transfer to PGR-free medium germinated normally with shoots and roots after transfer to Gellan Gum-solidified MS medium. All of the regenerated plants were tetraploid. They were successfully grown in pots containing soil in a greenhouse after acclimatization in an incubator.