Abstract

JIMENEZ, T; CABRERA, G; ALVAREZ, E  and  GOMEZ, F. Evaluation of the content of stevioside and rebaudioside A in a population of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (kaâ heê) commercially cultivated. A preliminary study. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2010, vol.8, n.1, pp.47-53. ISSN 1812-9528.

ABSTRACT Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (kaâ heê) is a bush native to the Eastern Region of Paraguay. Its leaves contain diterpene glycosides that produce a sweet taste but without any caloric value and are 150 to 300 times sweeter than sacharose (0, 4% solution). During 1998 and 1999 agricultural seasons, individual selection sown fields were established in the National Agronomical Institute (Caacupé, Paraguay). The objective of this work was to determine the content of stevioside and rebaudioside A in these selected plants in the field in order to evaluate the variability existent in the population and identify clones with high content of those glycosides. Of an original population of 2,000 specimens, 140 plants were selected phenotipically by the superior agronomical characteristics and they were harvested in the period of pre-flowering and were pollination free. The content of stevioside and rebaudioside A were evaluated in the laboratories of the National Institute of Technology, Standardization and Metrology (INTN in Spanish) by high resolution liquid chromatography. The content of stevioside ranged from 0 to 21% concentrating the 92% of the population between 5 to 15%. In relation to rebaudioside A, values between 0 and 12% were obtained being 68% of the population between a content of 3 to 9%. As the current demand of Stevia is increasingly rising, the actions oriented to establish clonal lines with high content of sweetener principles will allow primary producers to obtain more productive cultivations and increase the output of glycoside obtainment.

Keywords : Stevioside; rebaudioside A; clonal lines; Stevia rebaudiana.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )