Espand (Peganum harmala) is a valuable medicinal plant with antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticancer properties. To increase certain substances in cells, metabolic engineering is a powerful tool which needs an optimized regeneration and transformation protocol. The aim of current study was to set up a regeneration and transformation protocol for Espand. Hypocotyls of three Iranian Espand cultivars (Yazd, Amol and Uremia) were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentration of BA (0, 1, 2 and 3 mg l -1 ) and NAA (0, 0.1 mg l -1 ). The highest frequency of regeneration was achieved by Amol ecotype with 93% shoot regeneration on 0.01 mg l -1 NAA and 2 mg l -1 BAP medium.
