In Vitro Evaluation of Some Traits in Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) under Drought Stress and Their Relationship on Stevioside Content

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the differences of plant growth as well as sweetener material of two types of Stevia rebaudiana under conditions of absence and presence of drought stress. In vitro, the experiment was conducted as drought traits using four levels of polyethylene glycol (0.0, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 ppm). It was observed that survival % and No. of shoots should be considered as the important factors associated with stevioside content in stevia plant. According to path coefficient analysis and positive direct effect of studied traits, survival % recorded the highest value (0.5386), whereas No. of shoots recorded the highest value (−0.8827) as negative direct effect in related to stevioside content. The results showed that all traits were affected, especially under 30,000 ppm level of polyethylene glycol. Generally, the most of studies traits exhibited a recorded clearly difference between the two types and used drought levels on stevia plants. Therefore, selection based on survival % would be more effective to improving stevioside content of stevia plants in drought stress conditions.