The Effect of Sucrose and Photoperiod on The Growth of Synthetic Seeds of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

One of the techniques for in vitro propagation of Stevia rebaudiana is using synthetic seed technology. Synthetic seeds are encapsulated explants such as somatic embryos, shoots, aggregates or other tissues that have the ability to develop into plants in in vitro or ex vitro conditions and can retain their potential after storage. This study aims to determine the effect of sucrose and photoperiod on the growth of synthetic seeds of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. The plant materials were the shoots tip of Stevia rebaudiana, which were encapsulated using 4% sodium alginate and 75 mM CaCl2. The encapsulated seeds were placed on MS medium and given photoperiodic treatment for 24/0 hours light/dark, 16/8 hours light/dark, 6/18 hours light/dark and 12/12 hours light/dark and were treated with sucrose content i.e. without sucrose (0%), sucrose 3% and sucrose 4,5%. The research parameters were the number of germinated seeds, the percentage of synthetic seed germination, the number of leaves, and height of plantlets. Sucrose in the medium and photoperiod affected the number of germinating seeds, percentage of seed germination, number of leaves and plantlet height optimally in the photoperiod treatment of 12/12 hours of light/dark and sucrose content of 3%.