Establishment of adventitious root culture of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Stevia rebaudiana</Emphasis> Bertoni in a roller bottle system

Cultures of adventitious roots of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) Bertoni were performed in a roller bottle system for the production of both primary and secondary metabolites. Adventitious roots were induced from 1-cm-long root tip explants derived from in vitro regenerated plantlets on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS 1962) media supplemented with 10.7 μM of α-naphthaleneacetic acid. These cultures were successfully maintained in the same medium for 6 months with regular subcultures after 4 weeks. Thereafter, the roots were cut into 1.0- to 1.5-cm-long segments and transferred to the roller bottle system containing a fresh root tissue culture on liquid MS medium supplemented with 10.7 μM NAA. The apparatus consisted of a flask rolling system adjusted to 4g, and 3° of flask inclination. The roots were allowed to grow in the absence of light for adaptation and adventitious root formation. The best conditions for cultivation were investigated, considering culture volume (25 ml), culture period (4 weeks), salt concentrations in the nutrient medium (33%) and optimal initial inoculum (0.2 g) of S. rebaudiana roots. These results could give important information on how to improve the development of adventitious roots of S. rebaudiana for the production of primary and secondary metabolites.