Stevia rebaudiana is an important agricultural crop for the production of a high-potency natural sweetener,
sensitive to low temperature during the developmental stage. Stimulation of chilling stress with
a pre-treatment with endogenous signalling components and in particular with salicylic acid (SA), hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) could induce tolerance to
chilling and could constitute a suitable way to maintain quality and quantity of steviol glycosides under
controlled artificial environment. In the present work the effects of different putative signalling molecules
on the morpho-physiological parameters were evaluated, and a specific method for the
quali-quantitative analysis of steviol glycosides in S. rebaudiana plants cultivated under controlled conditions
was developed, by using LC–ESI-FT (Orbitrap) MS, LC–ESI–QqQ-MS/MS and multivariate data
analysis. This approach underlined that the pre-treatment has influence on the production of secondary
metabolites. In particular Stevia plants characterised by higher contents of rebaudioside A and stevioside,
were identified.