Protoplast culture and plant regeneration of the dessert banana cultivar 'Grande Naine' (Musa spp., 'Cavendish' sub-group 'AAA') were achieved through somatic embryogenesis. Protoplasts were isolated from cell suspensions at a yield of 3x10000000 protoplasts/ml packed cell volume (0.5g). For the induction of cell divisions, two banana cell suspensions, SF265 ('AA') and IRFA903 ('AA'), used as feeder layers. SF265 ('AA') was found to be more efficient for inducing cell divisions than IRFA903 ('AA'). The first embryogenic cell suspensions were established from protoplast-derived microcalli. The transfer of microcalli and protoplast-derived cell suspensions onto regeneration medium containing plant growth regulators slightly increased the number of embryos relative to those maintained on a feeder layer with growth regulators. Plant regeneration was achieved in the same regeneration medium.