Background: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, an important anti-diabetic medicinal plant, becomes an inevitable alternative to sugar. Due to the propagation difficulties, tissue culture is the best alternative for rapid mass propagation of stevia plants. Objective: The present study was conducted to optimize a protocol for rapid micropropagation of Stevia rebaudiana by shoot tip explants and to inv...

The genomic DNA polymorphism and phytochemical variation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni was investigated by RAPD-PCR and HPLC analysis. For initial PCR screening, about hundred oligo-nucleotide primers were used to amplify the genomic DNA from three accessions of S. rebaudiana (L1 to L3). The concentration of stevioside content was quantified by using HPLC analysis. A total of 9 primers were fina...

Two additional novel minor diterpene glycosides were isolated from the commercial extract of the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. The structures of the new compounds were identified as 13-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-oxy} ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid {β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)]-O-β-D-glucupyranosyl-ester} (1), and 1...

Degradation of rebaudioside M, a minor sweet component of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, under conditions that simulated extreme pH and temperature conditions has been studied. Thus, rebaudioside M was treated with 0.1 M phosphoric acid solution (pH 2.0) and 80 °C temperature for 24 h. Experimental results indicated that rebaudioside M under low pH and higher temperature yielded three minor degrada...

Stevia rebaudiana is a sweet herb of the Astraceae family, which is cultivated for the natural sweeteners it contains. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of drought, simulated by the application of polyethylene glycol (5%, 10%, and 15% w/v), on the content of steviol glycosides (SVglys) and transcription levels of six genes involved in the biosynthesis of these natural sweeteners. T...

X-ray crystallographic analysis of the title hydro-bromide salt, C(10)H(20)N(+)·Br(-), of (1R,2S,3R,5R,8aR)-3-hydroxy-meth-yl-5-methyl-octa-hydro-indolizine-1,2-diol defines the absolute and relative stereochemistry at the five chiral centres in steviamine, a new class of polyhydroxy-lated indolizidine alkaloid isolated from Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) leaves. In the crystal structure, mol-e...

Stevioside is a naturally occurring diterpenoid glycoside in Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. The title compound, C38H60O18·4CH3OH, crystallized as its methanol tetrasolvate. Stevioside consists of an aglycone steviol (a tetra-cyclic diterpene in which the four-fused-ring system consists of three six-membered rings and one five-membered ring) and a sugar part (three glucose units). A weak intra-molec...