Genetic Variability for Morphological Characters and Glycosides in Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) Singh Nitu1,*, Mohan Punit2, Choudhary AD3 1Department of Botany, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur-440013, Maharashtra 2Division of Crop Improvement, Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur-440010, Maharashtra 3Department of Botany, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur-440013, Maharashtra *Author for Correspondence: E-mail: nitu.pathak.2004@gmail.com
Online published on 15 February, 2014. Abstract Morphological and stevioside parameters in three diverse genotypes (GVS-6, HPSR and MPSR) of Stevia rebaudiana were studied under hot and semi- humid climatic conditions of Nagpur, for three years (2008–2010). The cultivar GVS-6 was identified as most promising for high stevioside content and biomass yield. The variations in morphological parameters of stevia cultivars were significant. Pooled results revealed that cultivar GVS-6 has optimum plant height (36.4 cm) with highest branches (14 number) and leaves (199.9 number), higher total dry biomass yield per plant (126.0 g) and stevioside (49.8%). High biomass production and stevioside content in a variety of stevia is very important for economic valuation in agriculture and medicinal aspects. Top Keywords Glycoside, Morphological characters, Stevia rebaudiana, Stevioside. Top |