Steviol Glycosides and Biomass Variation of Stevia rebaudiana Crop Grown under Moroccan Conditions

Stevia is a relatively unknown plant in Morocco. It contains low calorie sweeteners, which are 400 times sweeter than sucrose. The present study deals with the yield and quality response of cultivated stevia to the edaphoclimatic conditions in twelve different areas in Morocco, by measuring the biomass, Stevioside (STV), Rebaudioside A (RA), and Total steviol glycosides (SGtot). It was shown that stevia can grow in different types of soils even with low nutrient levels. Also stevia is suitable to be grown in areas with high electrical conductivity of soil (ECs) and water (ECw) like in Marrakech site with ECs=9.68 dS/cm, and Berkane site with ECw=2.97 and ECs=4.54. The organoleptic quality is increased with low pH as was recorded in Oulmes site where RA and SGtot were the greatest, with 9.88% and 18.94%, respectively. Stevia crop offers a great potential for introduction as a commercial crop for bio sweeteners production under Moroccan conditions.