Chilling stress is one of the most important environmental factors
that limit the productivity of field crops worldwide. In an
attempt to minimise chilling damage we investigated in this study
whether pre-treatment with the putative signalling molecules
(H2O2, SA, CaCl2, BA) could induce tolerance of S. rebaudiana Bert.
to chilling stress. We laid emphasis on the morphological changes
after 6 days of exposure to chilling stress, on physiological parameters
and regulation of chilling-induced photosynthetic process
that may occur in Stevia after a previous pretreatment with signalling
molecules and on exposure to chilling conditions. A particular
emphasis has been devoted to qualitative screening and
quantification of targeted steviol glycosides.