Explant donor plants of plantain cultivar Terra (cooking banana, AAB) are maintained at Embrapa'sBanana Germplasm Bank, in Cruz das Almas, BA, Brazil. The experiment was carried out during 2006. Male buds were harvested and peeled off in the laboratory to approximately 10 cm size. The size-reduced male buds were washed in tap water and transferred to a clean bench for further steps of surface sterilization