A simple miniprep based on early elimination of highly acidic and proteinaceous mucilages through ethanol washing of the tissue homogenates has been developed for the extraction of genomic DNA from mature leaves and seeds of Corchorus spp. As compared to high cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-NaCl DNA extraction followed by ethanol-based removal of remnant mucilages from the DNA pellet, this simple miniprep consistently and reproducibly recovers high amounts of DNA with good spectral qualities at A260/A280 and A260/A230. The purified DNA is efficiently digested by restriction endonucleases, and is suitable for PCR amplification of nuclear microsatellites with expected allele sizes.