Evaluation of different growing media based on agro-industrial waste materials for the morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics of stevia

Abstract

Stevia is an excellent source of natural antioxidants that prevent carcinogenic effects and cardiovascular disease especially helpful in curing diabetes. It is the most emerging medicinal plant important for the food industry. The increased production of stevia is an important aspect of using different growing media, i.e., control (garden soil), garden soil: spent mushroom substrate, garden soil: farm yard manure, garden soil: organic compost, garden soil: sugarcane bagasse, garden soil: perlite, garden soil: leaf mold, garden soil: press mud, garden soil: peat moss, garden soil: vermicompost as in the present study. The treatment of garden soil and vermicompost significantly increased plant height (54.70 cm), leaf fresh weight (18.79 g), number of branches per plant (12.26), leaves number per plant (297.46), leaf and shoot dry weight (8.98, 17.23), root length (17.38 cm), and root fresh weight (17.38 g) as compared to control. Garden soil and vermicompost significantly improved chlorophyll a (3.1 mg/g) and b (1.5 mg/g), total chlorophyll (3.45 mg/g), carotenoids (0.42 mg/g), and flavonoids (56 mg/g) as compared to other treatments. The increased level of minerals, i.e., potassium, nitrogen, sodium, zinc, calcium, and phosphorus were also observed in the mixture of garden soil and vermicompost as compared to control and other treatments. Plant height revealed a significant association with all the studied traits of growth, photosynthetic pigments, minerals, and alike association trend was revealed from the biplot. • Vermicompost, spent mushroom substrate and press mud are valuable growing media for stevia growth • Spent mushroom substrate and Press Mud increased the stevia growth than in soil • Vermicompost can be used for peat replacement in stevia production • Effective growing media are vital to the soilless plant cultivation industry • Spent mushroom wastes showed a greater reuse potential in improving yield and quality