Clint Sant

C. Sant , C. Johnson, M. Indest and L. Pavich Louisiana State University School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences Baton Rouge, LA 70803 In Vitro Propagation of Stevia rebaudiana Stevia rebaudiana is a tropical plant in the Asteraceae family. The leaves of this plant contain a compound important in producing low calorie sweeteners for the food industry. Establishing an efficient micro propagation technique is economically important because plant production from seed is slow and unreliable. The photoperiodic nature of the crop stops vegetative growth when daylight is less than twelve hours. Explants for this experiment were obtained from field grown Stevia plants at the end of the growing season. Explants were rinsed for ten minutes under flowing tap water to remove debris then submerged in ten percent bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite) solution for twenty minutes. Two or three nodal cuttings were transferred to MS media (1962).About fifty percent of the cultures were contaminated with mold. Among the uncontaminated cultures growth of explants were observed after four weeks on media. After six weeks on establishment media, plants were removed and sectioned into two node cuttings and placed on MS media supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BA). More lateral shoots were produced on the BA supplemented media than on the control. An average of three extra shoots was produced per explants. The acclimation phase included transferring plants from tissue culture to a small chamber to maintain a high humidly. Plants where transitioned to ambient environment over a 14 day period.