| Abstrakt: |
The leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) are the source of several medicinally important bioactive compounds, including steviol glycosides (SGs), primarily accountable for the sweetness of the plant, and phenolic compounds, which offer a wide variety of therapeutic potential against various diseases. Two separate pot experiments were conducted simultaneously in order to investigate the influence of foliar-spray treatments at different concentrations (40, 80, 120, and 160 mg L−1) of irradiated chitosan (ICH) and irradiated sodium alginate (ISA) on the performance of S. rebaudiana with regard to its growth, physiological activities, and production of steviol glycosides measured at 90 days after planting. The growth and physiological attributes of Stevia were significantly improved as a result of foliar sprays of ICH and ISA. Of the treatments, 80 mg L−1 of ICH and 120 mg L−1 of ISA performed the best and resulted in the highest values of all studied parameters compared to the water-spray control. On area-percentage basis, the respective treatments of ICH and ISA also led to an increase in the leaf contents of steviol glycosides, viz., Stevioside by 57.14% and 51.13% and (Rebaudioside A) by 43.28% and 36.64% respectively, as well as other bioactive compounds of S. rebaudiana leaf such as D-Allose sugar (by 33.17% and 29.98%), Neophytadiene (by 57.40% and 53.21%), and β-amyrin (by 16.31% and 13.81%), respectively, compared to the control treatment. Findings of the present study demonstrated that foliar-sprays of γ-irradiated chitosan and sodium alginate improved growth as well as physiological performance of S. rebaudiana, triggering the production of important steviol glycosides and other bioactive constituents of Stevia through up-regulating the secondary metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
Full text from SpringerLink