Phytochemical and morpho-physiological responses of stevia rebaudiana bertoni to different planting beds and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation [glomus intraradices n.c. schenck and g.s. sm.]

Background: The composition of the planting beds and its microorganisms has a very important role on the establishment, growth and phytochemical performance of medicinal plants

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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different planting beds and inoculation of mycorrhizal fungus on the changes of stevioside, rebaudioside, and morpho-physiological traits of stevia

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Methods: This study was conducted in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete blocks design [RCBD] with 10 treatments and 4 replications. The first factor consisted of inoculum and non-inoculum treatment of Glomus intraradices, and the second factor was the different combination of peat moss, coco peat, perlite and soil as planting beds

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Results: Mycorrhizal fungi inoculation significantly increased the plant height, number of lateral branches, stem and root diameter, number of leaves, leaf fresh/dry weight, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and content of stevioside, rebaudioside A and C. Also, different combination of planting beds had a significant effect on the plant height, stem dry/fresh weight, leaf fresh weight, root dry/fresh weight, and content of stevioside, rebaudioside A and C

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Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the combination of peat moss + coco peat + soil [2:1:1] with mycorrhizal fungi inoculation among the treatments had the highest positive effect on leaf dry weight and glycoside carbohydrates in stevia plants