The chlorophylls and carotenoids are the most important natural pigments used extensively in the food industry. Two major factors for the production of chlorophylls and carotenoids are the natural sources rich in pigments and efficacy of extraction method. Present research was performed to obtain a more effective solvent type in extraction of photosynthetic pigments in Stevia rebaudiana medicinal plant. Stevia rebaudiana is a medicinal plant and natural sweetener belonging to Asteraceae (Compositae) family that cultivation of which is increasing worldwide due to its high benefits for human health [1]. In the present study the extraction of chlorophyll a (chl a), chlorophyll b (chl b), total chlorophyll (chl a+b) and carotenoid (C x+c) pigments were studied in shoot samples of Stevia rebaudiana by spectrophotometric method. The pigments were solvent extracted using acetone 100% (pure solvent), diethyl ether (pure solvent), ethanol 95% (v/v) and methanol 100% (pure solvent). This research was conducted using a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications involving one factor namely solvent type (in 4 levels). The concentrations of photosynthetic pigments were determined by different equations suggested by Lichtenthaler (1987) [2]. It was observed that methanol 100% showed higher chlorophyll an extraction (9.486 ± 0.233 μg ml-1), ethanol 95% showed higher chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll extraction (respectively 4.559 ± 0.316 and 13.563 ± 0.317 μg ml-1) and finally diethyl ether showed higher carotenoids extraction (14.114 ± 4.617 μg ml-1) when compared with other solvents.
