In vitro Morphological, Biochemical and Microbial Studies on Elite Clones of Stevia rebaudiana for Enhanced Production of Stevioside

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, belonging to the family Asteraceae, is a perennial and medicinal shrub. Stevia is a natural non-calorie sweetener. The leaves of Stevia contain diterpene glucosides viz. stevioside and rebaudioside with a sweet taste but which are not metabolized. The sweetener, stevioside extracted from the plants is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is recommended for diabetes with no side effects. In vitro established cultures shown high yielding and faster growth The induction of multiple shoots from nodal segments were highest in MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l BAP + 2.0 mg/l IAA. Leaf explants were used for the purpose of callus induction which showed maximum in MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/l BAP + 1.0 mg/l IAA.. In Phytochemical screening, reducing sugar is moderately positive so that does not effect in sugar level. In biochemical studies, shows banding pattern separation of total protein and relevant amount of protein content. In antimicrobial studies, maximum zone of inhibition shown in Ethyl Acetate, Acetone, N-Hexane extract in DMSO, Ethyl Acetate extracts, against the bacterial cultures of E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus amyloliquifaciens, S. aureus, Micrococus, L. fermentum, Bulgaricus respectively.