Preliminary phytochemical and pharmacognostic studies on Stevia rebaudiana bertoni

Abstract

The medicinal plant Stevia rebaudiana belongs to the family Asteraceae, tribe Eupatorieae. Stevia rabuadiana is originally a South American wild plant (Ejaz et al., 2013). The herb S. rebaudiana is a calorie-free sweetener hence, a better dietary supplement. Further, both in vitro and in vivo studies revealed that these glycosides possess pharmacological and therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, and anti-diabetic activity (Kajur et al., 2010). Keeping its medicinal significance in a view the present study is focused. The results show the presence of secondary metabolites such as phenols, Flavonoids, Triterpenes, Lactones, Tannins, Saponins, Alkaloids which in turn may be the responsible for its medicinal efficacy.