Abstract: Late globular stage embryos（15–20-day-old）of Chinese jujube（Ziziphus jujuba‘Dongzao’） were selected as materials. The factors influencing the rescue of the extremely young embryo，including culture medium，inoculation way，removing or keeping seed coat，growth regulator combination，as well as the concentrations of lactoalbumin hydrolysate（LH），activated carbon（AC）and sucrose，were studied. The culture condition was optimized as follows：Using the medium of MS + IAA 3.0 mg ? L-1 + 6-BA 0.5 mg ? L-1 + AC 1 g ? L-1 + LH 0.8 g ? L-1 + sucrose 30 g ? L-1，removing seed coat，putting the chalazal end of embryo into culture medium（radicle end up），and keeping the culture temperature around 21 ℃. Under the optimized condition，the rates of embryo germination and normal embryo could reach 93% and 84%，respectively. The germinated embryos were then cultured in the medium of MS + IBA 0.4 mg ? L-1，and the rooting rate reached 40%. Removing seed coat and inoculating the chalazal end of embryo are the keys for the culture of extremely young embryo of Chinese jujube.

Key words: Ziziphus jujuba, immature embryo, culture, germination, seedling formation