This paper deals with the in vitro effects of brassinosteroids (BRs) on growth in the form of multiple shoots, chlorophyll content, Hill reaction activity (HRA), activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), polyphenol oxidase (PPX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in Arachis hypogaea L. genotypes (M-13 and PBS24030). In vitro impact of BR on shoot multiplication potential was found to be the best at 1？mL？L？1 with BA (3？mg？L？1) in both the cultivars. Flowering was observed in PBS24030 on the medium containing 2.0？mL？L？1 BR with 3？mg？L？1 BA. Rhizogenesis was noticed in the presence of BR alone. Total chlorophyll content and HRA were highest at 2.0？mL？L？1 with BA in M-13 and 1.0？mL？L？1 with BA in PBS24030. Antioxidant enzyme activities were increased in the presence of BR whether alone or in combination with BA in both the cultivars. However, progressive decline was observed in case of MDA content. The results obtained in the study clearly indicated not only the in vitro establishment of groundnut cultivars in the presence of BR alone and in combination with BA but also its effect on various growth promotory physiological parameters. 1. Introduction Oilseed crops form the backbone of agricultural economy of India. Oilseed crops and their products are the second most sold commodities in the world trade. In India, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) was cultivated in an area of 6.22？million ha yielding 1180？Kg/ha in 2008-2009 (http://agricoop.nic.in/Agristatistics.htm). Besides income for the farmers, groundnut provides an inexpensive source of high-quality nutrition. Groundnut seeds contain 44–56% oil and 22–30% protein on a dry seed basis [1]. Although India is the world’s largest producer of edible oils yet it imports large quantities of oils (~1.2？million tons). One of the reasons for India’s large edible oil deficit is the poor yield of oilseed crops per hectare, principally caused by the available cultivars being susceptible to diseases and vulnerable to abiotic stresses as well as poor farm practices. Therefore, it would be pertinent to assess the potential of new genotypes of peanut in the in vitro conditions and new combination of PGRs for regeneration and biochemical manipulation. Brassinosteroids (BRs) are common plant-produced compounds structurally similar to animal steroid hormones that can function as growth regulators [2]. In addition, it has been suggested that BRs could be included in the category of phytohormones [3]. Exogenous application of BRs affects a broad spectrum of physiological responses like cell expansion, vascular
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