Background Rosa canina is one of the most popular rose species which is widely used as the rootstock for the propagation of rose cultivars. The purpose of the present study is to improve the in vitro propagation efficiency of this valuable plant species using various growth stimulants in a proliferation medium. In this study, in vitro-derived axillary buds of R. canina were inoculated in Vander Salm (VS) medium supplemented with varying levels of organic or inorganic elicitors including casein hydrolysate (200, 400, and 600 mg/l), glutamic acid (2, 4, 8, and 12 mg/l), proline (500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/l), and silver nitrate (25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/l), separately. Benzyl amino purine (BAP) as well as naphthalin acetic acid (NAA) were added to all media at a constant rate to promote shoot proliferation. Results The results indicated that the supplementation of casein hydrolysate to the VS medium markedly stimulated shoot regeneration by 173% in comparison to control. Shoot proliferation was also positively influenced by glutamic acid at all levels, however, at a lesser extent compared to casein hydrolysate. Silver nitrate at 100 mg/l induced the longest shoots (2.52 ± 0.248 cm) and maximum leaf number (8.90 ± 0.276) among all treatments. Although it did not encourage efficient shoot regeneration, the highest quality shoots with maximum growth vigor were observed in this treatment. Conclusion In this study, the promising role of casein hydrolysate in combination with plant growth regulators has been emphasized for the improved efficiency of R. canina regeneration protocol. Moreover, the addition of silver nitrate to the culture medium seems vital for enhancing the quality of regenerated shoots. The results of this study could be beneficial either for the further pharmaceutical or biochemical investigations of R. canina or commercial purposes for mass propagation of this specimen.

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