Explants are small pieces of plant tissue that are aseptically cut from various plant parts like shoots, leaves, stems, flowers and roots to initiate a culture. The correct choice of explant depends on the type of culture, its purpose and the plant species. A minimum explant size is needed for successful culture initiation and varies depending on the plant's genotype and culture conditions. To obtain contamination-free explants, surface microbes are removed through rinsing and sterilization techniques like using ethanol solutions and conducting sterilization under vacuum.