The stevia plant is a small shrub, looks like Tulsi plant that has been used as sweetener for hundreds of years. This is also called “sweet-leaf, sugar-leaf or honey-leaf”. Because of its highly-potent sweetness, stevia is used as a zero- calorie sweetener in a variety of foods and drinks. The best-tasting, purified parts of the stevia plant – stevia leaf extract–is a great alternative to sugar, and it does not raise blood glucose levels, a concern for people with diabetes.
Known botanically as “Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni,” the plant is native to Paraguay, grows well in tropical and sub-tropical locations. Today stevia is grown commercially all over the world where it flourishes under long hours of daylight, plenty of water & warmth. In modern use, the stevia plant leaves are harvested and processed primarily for Extraction & Refining to make stevia–sweetener, also called stevia-sugar which are high-intensity sweeteners and about 250 to 350 times sweeter than cane-sugar.
Stevia grows best under tropical conditions, where major months’ temperature ranges between 15-42 degree Celcius, and more than 10 hours of sunlight. The stevia plant is native to South America.
Stevia is a sweetener extracted from the leaves of the plant Stevia, is unique and is most valued for what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t add calories. Unlike other sugar substitutes, stevia is derived from a plant. The active compounds of stevia are steviol glycosides, which have up to 200-300 times the sweetness of sugar, are heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable.
Sugar consumption, especially from sugary drinks, is the single largest contributor to the global epidemic of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, & unhealthy weight gain. Although several artificial sugar substitutes are available such as aspartame, saccharin, sucralose & cyclamates etc., however many of them have critical concerns over the safety of health.
The global stevia market is rapidly increasing. In 2014, the global consumption of stevia as a food ingredient was estimated at 5,100 MT, and it has already reached about 12,000 MT.
Yes. Refined sugar is virtually devoid of nutritional benefits and, at best, represents empty calories in the diet. At worst, it has been implicated in numerous degenerative diseases. Stevia is much sweeter than sugar and has none of sugar’s unhealthy drawbacks.
Stevia powder is made from stevia leaves by grinding/pulverising the dry stevia leaves, and is green in colour. It has no industrial applications.
Stevia leaf extract is made after industrial processing of dry stevia leaves by extraction and refining to produce high-intensity stevia sweetener(HIS) or even stevia-sugar. Technically known as steviol glycosides. It’s a white free free-flowing powder about 200-350 times sweeter than sugar.
Stevia leaf extract is a high-intensity natural sweetener that can be anywhere from 200-350 times sweeter than sugar. You need to add only very small amounts to achieve the level of sweetness you expect with sugar. That’s part of why stevia leaf extract has no calories—you need very little.
Stevia leaf extract also has no calories due to the way your body metabolizes the sweetener—unlike sugar, stevia leaf extract quickly passes through your digestive tract and is eliminated without being broken down for calories. This can be a benefit for people trying to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.
Diabetes is a medical condition that should be monitored and treated by a qualified physician or health care practitioner. However, stevia can be a part of a healthy diet & diabetes management for anyone with blood sugar problems since it does not raise blood sugar levels.
Most certainly. However, sweeteners in general should be used in moderation in a balanced healthy diet. And artificial sweeteners should be avoided altogether.
Apparently not. Two tests conducted by Purdue University’s Dental Science Research Group have concluded that stevioside is both fluoride compatible and ”significantly” inhibits the development of plaque, thus stevia may actually help prevent cavities.
Absolutely! Industrial research in Japan has shown that stevia extracts are extremely heat stable in a variety of everyday cooking and baking situations.
Raw herbal stevia contains nearly one hundred identified phytonutrients and volatile oils, including trace amounts of Rutin (from the Callus) and B-Sitosterol(from the leaves). However, in the quantities typically consumed, the nutritive benefits will be negligible. The extracts of stevia, being refined, will contain far fewer of these phytonutrients and volatile oils.
Green stevia powder would most likely impart colour to your food, dependingonhow much is used. However, stevia leaf extract is mostly white and will generally have no effect on the colour of your food or beverage. The one exception to this rule could be baking, where you may notice colour and performance differences when using stevia leaf extract as an ingredient.
A recent study in 2017 mentioned that consuming stevia brings no change in blood chemistry, cellular function, compensation or appearance.
Stevia can easily grow in a wide variety of soils, any moderately sandy, loamy to moderately clay soils with adequate drainage & aeration, but not heavy clay or soil with poor drainage or saline soil.
Stevia grows best in temperatures 15-42 degrees Celsius with no frost. You can also easily grow in higher temperatures with appropriate irrigation(sprinklers) facility for peak summer days.
Crops need shallow and frequent irrigation, 200-500ml per plant per day, with ideal irrigation water pH range 6.0-7.0. Drip irrigation is the efficient way to do this.
Stevia tissue-cultured plants and cuttings are commonly used as planting material. However, they can be expensive. A world-wide trend and practice adapted for commercial cultivation is by cutting, which is developed in professional nurseries from select variety mother plants. Propagation from seed is difficult, may give a lot of variation in production and sweetness content, and is not commonly practiced.
Approx 32000-35000 plants per acre is recommended for Stevia.
Stevia crop remains productive for about 5 years if managed well.
The herbage can be harvested 3-5 times in a year, depending on your geographical location and climate. The right harvesting time is when the leaves are mature and just before flowering starts.
