Plant source for fuel that replaces fossil fuels is a topical subject and has gained prominence as "Biofuel crops". Successful DNA extraction from seed yielding appropriate DNA quality for PCR amplification will allow molecular genetic investigations in such crops. Standardized protocols for DNA isolation failed to yield high quality DNA from dried seeds that are rich source of triglycerides. In this paper, we report a protocol for isolation of genomic DNA from three potential biofuel crops using SDS extraction step, followed by. precipitation and purification to remove polysaccharides, proteins and polyphenols which are abundant in storage tissues like seeds. The average yield of DNA among the biofuel crops varied from 15 to 25 mg kg(-1) tissue. Spectrophotometric and electrophoretic analysis indicated that the isolated DNA was highly pure and of high molecular weight amenable for PCR amplification and restriction endonucleases. This procedure may prove useful for other oilseed crops of commercial importance. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.