When combined with micropropagation techniques, large numbers of disease-free plants may be produced from meristematic explants. Somatic embryo occurs either directly on the explant or more often in callus culture. There are several advantages of recovery of plants from cells via somatic embryogenesis compared to micropropagation. Somatic embryos can be produced from cells growing in suspension, thereby making possible batch culture techniques which can be scaled-up with minimum handlings costs. The multiplication rate is very high and, in some species like carrot, celery or tomato, the embryos can be encapsulated and treated as an artificial seeds.
Whole plants develop from the somatic embryos and only require growth to maturity.
When organogenesis occurs, shoots or roots develop and the induction of the complementary structures frequently requires different culture media formulations. However, many problems remain with somatic embryogenesis. Altough callus proliferation is relatively easy for most plant species, regeneration from unorganised cells, such as cell suspensions, is usually a more difficult process. Moreover, there are numerous reports that show that the regeneration from callus or cell-suspensions may lead to genetic variations in regenerated plants. Therefore, it is important that more research be conducted to understand the molecular basis of the genetic changes that occur during the artificial culture of cells.