diff --git a/merkle/merkle.go b/merkle/merkle.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49383945db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/merkle/merkle.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2024, Ava Labs, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// See the file LICENSE for licensing terms.
+
+package merkle
+
+import (
+	"context"
+
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/database"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/database/memdb"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/ids"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/x/merkledb"
+)
+
+// Generate merkle root for a set of items
+func GenerateMerkleRoot(ctx context.Context, config merkledb.Config, merkleItems [][]byte, consumeBytes bool) (ids.ID, merkledb.MerkleDB, error) {
+	batchOps := make([]database.BatchOp, 0, len(merkleItems))
+
+	for _, item := range merkleItems {
+		batchOps = append(batchOps, database.BatchOp{
+			Key:   item,
+			Value: item,
+		})
+	}
+
+	db, err := merkledb.New(ctx, memdb.New(), config)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ids.Empty, nil, err
+	}
+
+	view, err := db.NewView(ctx, merkledb.ViewChanges{BatchOps: batchOps, ConsumeBytes: consumeBytes})
+	if err != nil {
+		return ids.Empty, nil, err
+	}
+
+	root, err := view.GetMerkleRoot(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ids.Empty, nil, err
+	}
+
+	return root, db, nil
+}
diff --git a/merkle/merkle_test.go b/merkle/merkle_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9c3fc7d630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/merkle/merkle_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2024, Ava Labs, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// See the file LICENSE for licensing terms.
+
+package merkle
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/ids"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/trace"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/utils/units"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/x/merkledb"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+var (
+	resRoot ids.ID
+	resDB   merkledb.MerkleDB
+	resErr  error
+)
+
+func BenchmarkMerkleTxRoot(b *testing.B) {
+	for _, size := range []int{10, 100, 1000, 10000} {
+		ctx := context.TODO()
+		tracer := trace.Noop
+		merkleItems := make([][]byte, 0, size)
+		for i := 0; i < size; i++ {
+			item := make([]byte, 32)
+			_, err := rand.Read(item)
+			require.NoError(b, err)
+			merkleItems = append(merkleItems, item)
+		}
+
+		var root ids.ID
+		var db merkledb.MerkleDB
+		var err error
+
+		defaultConfig := merkledb.Config{
+			BranchFactor:              merkledb.BranchFactor16,
+			HistoryLength:             100,
+			IntermediateNodeCacheSize: units.MiB,
+			ValueNodeCacheSize:        units.MiB,
+			Tracer:                    tracer,
+		}
+
+		b.Run(strconv.Itoa(size), func(b *testing.B) {
+			for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
+				for i := 0; i < size; i++ {
+					root, db, err = GenerateMerkleRoot(ctx, defaultConfig, merkleItems, false)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+
+		// avoid compiler optimizations to cancel out the bench
+		resRoot = root
+		resDB = db
+		resErr = err
+	}
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+}