Bioactivities and biotechnological tools for obtaining bioactive metabolites from Stevia rebaudiana

Several natural compounds have already been isolated from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana, the main ones are stevioside and rebaudiosides, which are used commercially in the food and pharmaceutical industries because they are considered a low-calorie alternative for sweetening. Thus, the development of different strategies to increase the production of steviol glycosides, as well as the health benefits of these compounds with a sweet characteristic, are well-documented in the literature. However, there is a limited number of published works on the other bioactive metabolites present in S. rebaudiana. The objective of this review is to report the main basal and specialized metabolites present in the plant, their biological activities, and the different biotechnological tools used to obtain these metabolites from S. rebaudiana. The use of new natural sources of bioactive compounds with functional properties, such as S. rebaudiana, is highly relevant to the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-024-01776-w.