In vitro propagation of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) - A non caloric sweetener and antidiabetic medicinal plant

Research on medicinal plants has considerably increased in recent years and is nowadays oriented towards discovering new sources beneficial to human health. Naturally low calorie sweeteners isolated from medicinal plants are gaining a great interest in their use as dietary sucrose substitutes in food and pharmaceutical products. Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) is a perennial sweet herb belongs to Asteraceae family which has great potential as a crop for the production of a high-potency natural sweetener (Savita et al. 2004; Lemus-Mandaca et al. 2012).