Introduction to Stevia
Origin and History
Stevia Rebaudiana is a natural sweetener and a herb in the Asteraceae family. This family includes well-known plants such as sunflower and dandelion. Stevia grows wild as shrubs in parts of Paraguay, Brazil and some other countries. Some South American natives had already used this plant to sweeten native beverages for centuries.
Spanish rulers first learned of the “sweetest plant of the world” in the 16th century. Yet the commercial use of this plant did not take place quickly. During World War II, the allies thought of extracting stevioside (the chemical compound in Stevia) as an alternative for sugar, since the supplies were running out. But there was no available technology to extract the stevioside industrially. Around 1970, due to restriction of artificial sweeteners usage in Japan, there was quick progress in the technological research and usage of the plant extract. Stevia is the most used sweetener in Japan and Korea. Production now takes place mainly in Paraguay, Uruguay, Central America, USA, Israel, Thailand and China.
Description
The leaves are about 5 cm long and 2 cm wide. In the wild, the height of the plant varies from 40 to 80 cm but it can grow to about 1 metre tall when it is cultivated. Stevia is a very hardy plant, growing even on relatively poor soil. In Paraguay and Brazil, the commercial lif e of a Stevia plant is 6 years, yielding 5 harvests a year. The roots remain in place and so the plant can regenerates
The glycosides in its leaves, including 10% Stevioside, make it incredibly sweet. The dreid leaves of Stevia are about 40 times sweeter than sugar. 1 tablespoon of Stevia extracts is about 200-300 times sweeter than a tablespoon of normal sugar. The refined product, Stevioside, is a white crystalline powder extracted from Stevia leaves. Although it is sweet, Stevia is a 100% natural sweetener that is also calorie-free. The body does not metabolize the sweet glycosides from the leaves nor any of its extracts, so there is no caloric intake. Stevia does not adversely affect blood glucose levels and thus may be used by diabetics.
Many different uses of Stevia are already well-known: as table sugar, in soft drinks, pastry, pickles, candy, jam, chewing gum, sorbets etc.
A brief summary of any possible negative side effects and principal advantages
There are no confirmed negative Stevia side effects for humans. However, Stevia is forbidden as food additive in the European Union and some other countries. Studies which supposedly showed some negative effects have been highly criticized on the way the data were handled and also the distilled water used appeared to be toxic. In addition, the dosage used in the experiments was way too high. To get the toxicity as in the experiment, one has to eat half his weight in stevia leaves. If one calculates the daily consumption of Stevia to replace the average daily sugar consumption, one would need to eat only 4 gram of Stevia leaves.
Instead, the principal advantages of Stevia include the following:
- 100% natural
- Calories free
- Leaves can be used in their natural state
- Only small quantities need to be used
- Non toxicity
- Leaves and extracts can be cooked, stable when heated up to 200 degrees
- Non fermentative
- Ideal, non-addictive sweetener for children
An Acronym for Stevia would be:
S weetener,
T asty,
E conomical &
VIA ble
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References:
prepared by: Edward Tan, 1A3
Very well done introduction about stevia. Good job!
ReplyDeleteCool subject! Well done!
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool! AWESOME JOB!
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