Abstract

GONZALEZ-CHAVIRA, Mario Martín et al. Changes in the content of phenolic compounds, steviosides and level of methylation in Stevia rebaudiana elicited. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2018, vol.9, n.7, pp.1435-1446.  Epub Sep 30, 2020. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v9i7.1314.

The application of elicitors induces a response in the level of secondary metabolites and in the DNA methylation of plants. The objective of this work was to apply two elicitors to stevia plants and evaluate the content of several phenolic compounds and steviol glucosides; as well as the methylation level in elicited and not elicited plants. The phenolics and glucosides were determined by HPLC and spectrophotometry while methylation by 5-mC DNA ELISA. As a result of elicitation, a slight increase in chlorogenic and ferulic acids was observed. Total phenols were increased seven days after the application of the elicitors, without showing any increase at 15 and 21 days. In contrast, flavonoids and tannins increased significantly at 7, 15 and 21 days after application. The content of stevioside and rebaudiosides A and C increased 9.5, 5.3 and 3.3 times more than the control group. Throughout the experiment, rebaudioside C was higher in its concentration than the sum of steviol and rebaudioside A. It was observed that elicited plants had a lower level of methylation than those not elicited. Due to its high content of rebaudioside C, stevia creole, here used, can produce a less bitter sweetener than other materials. The elicitation of stevia can be a strategy to increase the yield of sweeteners.

Keywords : S. rebaudiana; elicitors; phenolic.

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