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Towards a semi-perennial culture of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni under temperate climate: effects of genotype, environment and plant age on steviol glycoside content and composition

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Abstract

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni is a perennial shrub native to Paraguay whose leaves accumulate sweetening compounds of high value: steviol glycosides (SVglys). These diterpenoids differ in the number (1–4) and the nature of sugar units bound to a steviol skeleton: mainly glucose but also rhamnose and xylose. The two main SVglys are stevioside (ST; 3 glucose units) and rebaudioside A (RA, 4 glucose units). Along with an evaluation of genotypic variability for SVglys content and composition, this study investigates the winter survival and the effect of perennial cultivation on S. rebaudiana genotypes through a 2-year experiment conducted on two locations. The first year, a population of 96 genotypes was examined in a nursery field (site A) and a subset of five genotypes was grown in a field trial (site B). The winter surviving genotypes (16 on site A and 5 on site B) were studied the following year, alongside new plantings of the same lines (8 on site A and 5 on site B). The genotypes showed a high variability in SVgly content (from 45.7 to 186.2 mg g−1 DM) and composition along four distinct clusters. There was no correlation between total SVglys content and composition. Genotypes without RA had no other SVglys with more than three conjugated sugars. SVgly content varied among environments and generally increased between 1- and 2-year-old plants, while SVgly composition remained stable. This study showed that breeding for winter survival in temperate conditions would allow an increase in SVgly productivity in a semi-perennial stevia production.

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Acknowledgments

This project benefited from a grant from the Oséo (FUI Stevianov F 11 07 018M) and Région Midi-Pyrénées. The authors would like to thank the members of the consortium [Epi Salvagnacois (Salvagnac, France), Stevia Natura (Riom, France), La Patellière (Condom, France) and LCA-ENSIACET (INP-Toulouse, France)]. Geoffray Laurens-Lambert and François Perdrieux are warmly and sincerely acknowledged for their assistance. The authors are grateful to Joël Perret and Mathieu Penin for help and guidance with the HPLC analyses. Ms. Bernadette Flannery is acknowledged for proof reading the article.

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  1. INP, EI Purpan, Département des Sciences Agronomiques et Agroalimentaires, Université de Toulouse, 75 voie du TOEC, BP 57611, 31076, Toulouse, France

    Claire Barbet-Massin, Simon Giuliano, Lionel Alletto, Jean Daydé & Monique Berger

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  1. Claire Barbet-Massin
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  2. Simon Giuliano
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  3. Lionel Alletto
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  5. Monique Berger
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Correspondence to Monique Berger.

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Barbet-Massin, C., Giuliano, S., Alletto, L. et al. Towards a semi-perennial culture of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni under temperate climate: effects of genotype, environment and plant age on steviol glycoside content and composition. Genet Resour Crop Evol 63, 685–694 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-015-0276-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-015-0276-9

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