Criteria for selection of superior Stevia rebaudiana plant for propagation establishment

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) is a calorie free sweet herb belongs to Asteraceae family which have high-potency sweeteners and excellent substitute to sugar. Stevia plants collected from various places of Rajasthan were grown in poly-house to evaluate different morphological characters before flowering stage. Five superior stevia plants (S36, S53, S81, S34, S37) were selected on the basis of morphological characters association and evaluated for stevioside and rebaudioside-A contents by High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Among the selected plants ‘S36’ mother plant exhibited highest leaf length (7.84 cm), leaf width (2.68 cm) and stevioside (3.4%) and rebaudioside (1.0%) content. In this study, leaf length and leaf width is positively correlated with stevioside and rebaudioside-A content. Therefore, this method is use for selection of superior stevia plant having high stevioside and rebaudioside-A content for propagation establishment.