Abstract
Artificial seeds are most commonly described as encapsulated somatic embryos. They are product of somatic cells, so can be used for large scale clonal propagation. Apart from somatic embryos, other explants such as shoot tips, axillary buds have also been used in preparation of artificial seeds. Artificial seeds have a variety of applications in plant biotechnology such as large scale clonal propagation, germplasm conservation, breeding of plants in which propagation trough normal seeds is not possible, genetic uniformity, easy storage and transportation etc. For some plants such as ornamental plants, propagation trough somatic embryogenesis and artificial seeds is the only way out. In the present paper- the types, advantages, production methods and various applications of artificial seeds have been reviewed