Extraction of quality RNA for molecular biology applications from perennial woody plants like mulberry is complicated due to the presence of high polysaccharides, polyphenols and other secondary metabolites. Since the existing methods failed to yield quality RNA in sufficient quantity from leaf and root tissues of mulberry, in this study, we modified the CTAB-based protocol. The standardised protocol yielded high quantity (520.00 μg/g fresh weight of leaf tissue) of quality RNA and the RNA extracted was suitable for all downstream applications such as cDNA synthesis, PCR and whole transcriptome analysis. The method developed was also found to be useful for isolating good quality and quantity total RNA from desiccated and salinity stressed leaf tissues of mulberry. The protocol was also applied successfully to isolate total RNA from leaf tissues of other species such as cardamom, papaya and rice.