Stevia Farm Visit
Origin of stevia: Paraguay
· Stevia contains 12% stevioside
o 65% of that 12% needs to be Reb A in order to sell well
o Reb A – best taste (among Reb A,B,C,D),
o approved by AVA,
o highest purity (in terms of sweeteness)
o 1kg Reb A – very expensive
o Morrita, Vietnamese breed, high Rep A
· Pure Circle is the no. 1 in stevia business in Singapore (http://www.purecircle.com)
· Not commercial yet.
· How to grow stevia
o 30cm is a good height
o water only when moist
o 11-12hrs of sunlight
o 500m above sea level
o 2yrs for plant to adapt to environment
o common in native Ammerica
o pheromones (plant communicating)
o pests
§ weak plant – fungus and bacteria
§ leaf-cutters, grasshoppers, ants etc
§ small snails
· Harvesting
o Just before flowers bloom, stevia – sweetest
o High rep A – longest growth cycle – greater biomass
o Don’t harvest in the morning (too much dew)
· Recipes
o Air dry plant
o Keep air tight (prevent fungal growth)
o Cannot be used alone in recipes (taste not robust enough)
o Should add sugar to some of the recipes
o Boil at different temperatures for different tastes
o Possible recipes (raw leaves)
§ Tea
§ Agar-agar (taste terrible)
§ Sprinkle in salad
§ already available
§ eg. Nestle Yoghurt, Coke green etc.
· Morrita – commercial & viable
· Growers Synergy currently cross breeding (not GM) for best combination to ensure best adaptability and sweetness
· Growers Synergy – joint farming in Indonesia and Bintan
· Stevia Growth (begun in WW2)
· Factors affecting peoples decision for choosing stevia
o Health
o Lifestyle
· No proven / known effects
· In the past, stevia extraction not as safe as before
Interviewed and taught by Thomas Ong (director)
Taught by : Prof. Hasuih, Prof. Edmund Choo
No comments:
Post a Comment