Effect of Nitrogen Sources on Rooting of in vitro Culture of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni)

Stevia rebaudiana Bert. belongs to family Asteraceae. It is a natural sweetener with zero calorie contributing to various medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-aging and anticancerous etc. Large scale production is required to meet the increasing demand for the natural sweeteners. Keeping all above mentioned points in view the present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of nitrogen on the rooting of Stevia rebaudiana to develop healthy rooting system for balanced plant physiology. The multiplied shoots were cultured on MS medium fortified with BAP (5.0 mg/l) along with Kinetin (1.0 mg/l). Effect of plant growth regulator IAA (1.0 mg/l) and α-NAA (1.0 mg/l) each in combination along with and without activated charcoal on induction and multiplication of roots on MS medium + NH4NO3 (14 N/l) + KNO3 (400 N/l) was recorded at the interval of two weeks. Results showed that less concentration of NH4NO3 (14 N/l) is required as compared with KNO3 (400 N/l) for better induction and multiplication of shoot and root. Although presence of nitrogen sources improves both shooting and rooting in stevia but the presence of plant growth regulators is must. The present study also advocates the addition of activated charcoal for healthy root development for both their number and length. Survival of 85% was achieved when rooted plantlets were acclimatized in 2 FYM: 1 Perlite: 1Garden Soil.