International Journal of Plant Soil Science, cilt.19, sa.4, ss.1-8, 2017 (Hakemli Dergi)
Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), an herbaceous
perennial plant belong to Asteraceae family, is one of the important source of
natural sweetening agents with non-calorie that can be used as an alternative
to artificial sweeteners. Plant originating in Paraguay and the south-west of
Brazil, have some usage possibilities in many sector and can accumulate
glycosides which tastes about 300 times sweeter than sugar cane. The previous
studies have shown that stevia plant is affected by water stress. In case of
water stress, the plants close their stomata and reduced the rate of transpiration.
In this study which was carried out at the Akdeniz University in 2016 under a
rainout shelter, it was aimed to determine changes in daily stomatal
conductance before and after irrigation (T) for consecutive 15 days. In this
scope, stevia plants were grown under 6 different irrigation regimes (I)
including a control (I100), plants irrigated with 100% restitution of water
consumption and additionally 120% (I120), 80% (I80), 60% (I60), 40% (I40) and
20% (I20) of the control treatment and 2 nitrogen (N) levels including zero N
(control, N0) and recommended nitrogen level of 10 kg N/da (N10) in a split
plot experimental design with three replicates. Irrigation schedule was based
on A-Class evaporation pan and soil moisture level. As a result of study, it
was determined that stomatal conductivities were decreased with increasing
water stress at each N levels.