In 1931, eight plant chemicals were discovered in stevia that were found to be responsible for the sweetness in the naturally occurring plant. The chemicals were called glycosides and the sweetest of them is called stevioside and is about 300 times sweeter than sugar! Stevioside makes up anywhere from 6-18% of the stevia leaf and is the most commonly occurring glycoside found in the leaf of the plant. The other sweet ingredients of the plant include steviolbioside, rebausiosides A-E, and dulcoside A.
In addition to the glycosides there are many other chemicals in stevia including: apigenin, austroinulin, avicularin, beta-sitosterol, caffeic acid, campesterol, caryophyllene, centaureidin, chlorogenic acid, chlorophyll, cosmosin, cynaroside, daucosterol, diterpene glycosides, dulcosides A-B, foeniculin, formic acid, gibberellic acid, gibberellin, indole-3-acetonitrile, isoquercitrin, isosteviol, jhanol, kaempferol, kaurene, lupeol, luteolin, polystachoside, quercetin, quercitrin, rebaudioside A-F, scopoletin, sterebin A-H, steviol, steviolbioside, steviolmonoside, stevioside, stevioside a-3, stigmasterol, umbelliferone, and xanthophylls.
Research on stevia has been quite extensive, due in large part to the fact that it is a natural sweetener, does not produce any calories, and has proved to be neither dangerous nor toxic in animals such as rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and pigs. In addition, it does not cause cellular changes and also does not have any impact on fertility.
In 1991 a Brazilian scientist found that stevia worked to lower the systemic blood pressure in rats and then the same thing was found in 2000 when a double blind placebo controlled study was done on 106 men and women with hypertension. There have been many different studies on stevia and all of its chemical ingredients and many believe that it could prove useful in the use of treating heart conditions and even epidemic level chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes. Different research efforts have shown that the plant and its extracts are antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, and even have anti yeast activity.
Many were excited when research showed that a water extract of stevia could help to prevent dental cavities because it prohibits the growth of bacteria that stimulates the growth of plaque. Yet another research program showed that an extract of stevia could help with different skin diseases such as heat rash, acne, and even pruritis.
In short, exhaustive research has shown that stevia or elements of it could prove useful in many different setting and circumstances. The plant and its extracts hold a great deal of promise for the health care industry as well as the food and beverage industry as it is a very pure and non-toxic natural sweetener that could potentially replace the artificial, chemical sweeteners on the market today.
The research efforts that are underway and have been completed in the past are by no means the end of the road. Continued research is surely going to have even more interesting findings and positive impacts on countless people. While the interest in stevia dates back to the 19th century what this plant has in store for human kind is just being found out and it promises to unlock many more secrets and provide us with healthy sweetener options never before available.
]]>When you grow your own stevia at home you should be aware that it will not be as potent as refined white stevia extract, but it will still be a nice addition if you enjoy stevia tea leaves and like to use the natural sweetener in addition to the commercial stevia sweeteners that are already available.
Many gardeners also like to add stevia into their gardening repertoires because it has been shown to repel insects. Many believe that it is the sweetness of the plant that keeps aphids and other bugs away. If you are an organic gardener and want to plant something that will reduce the amount of bugs in your entire garden, stevia is a great choice because it is also a lot of fun to use and quite simple to grow.
Even the best gardeners are usually not all that successful growing stevia from the seed. Instead, it is much easier to grow stevia at home with starter plants. You may be able to buy the plants from your herbal or garden provider in your area. If you cannot find any stevia plants in your local area we recommend shopping the internet as there are many suppliers that will ship you as many baby stevia plants as you want.
Wherever you get your plants you should be sure that there is not the danger of frost when you plant them, as the young plants are very susceptible to cold temperatures. It’s best to plant stevia when soil temperatures are into the 50’s and 60’s if you want them to thrive. When planting you will want to place the young plants in rows that are 20 to 24 inches apart and you should ideally leave 18 inches between plants. Stevia plants will eventually grow to be about 30 inches tall and will be 18 to 24 inches wide.
Caring for stevia is quite simple, especially if you plant in very rich soil. The feeder roots of these plants are very near the surface, so it’s a good idea to use compost to really get your plants going. You should be careful not to over-water them and in the summer months you should take care and add mulch to your plants to keep the roots from drying out.
In the late autumn you will want to strip your stevia plant of its leaves, leaving about four inches of stem at the base during this pruning process. Once you have harvested all of your leaves you will need to dry them using a net or screen. The best place to dry them is in direct sunlight, which should take about 12 hours. If you allow for the process to take longer you will not be able to take advantage of the sweetness of the plant. If you do not live in a climate where sun is abundant you can always use a home dehydrator.
After the leaves are dry you can grind them in a coffee bean grinder for later use. If you would like liquid stevia you can choose to add a cup of warm water to one-quarter cup of crushed stevia leaves and let the mixture set out for 24 hours at room temperature. Finally, refrigerate the liquid stevia and use it later in your tea or other beverages and foods as you please.
]]>Stevia is a natural sweetener that has gained the interest of many in recent years. This sweetener comes from a plant that is native to South America. The plant has shown the capability to provide natural sweetness to products and would easily be able to pull its weight against the current artificial sweeteners already on the market. The only thing currently holding stevia back is that it has only been approved in a handful of countries for commercial use, including Japan, Brazil, and China, but the United States, Canada, and Europe have yet to give the nod to the substance as a food additive.
Despite not yet being approved, Coca-Cola and Cargill were excited about the idea of using Stevia in their beverages. The tide is turning and more and more consumers are looking for more wholesome, natural products and many market analysts believe that Coca-Cola will be setting a trend by looking outside of the artificial sweeteners that are currently available. In hopes of getting such products in production and onto store shelves Coca-Cola filed 24 different patent applications for the ingredient and the two companies are expected to petition the US Food and Drug Administration for approval in the near future.
While the patents and use of the ingredient have not yet been approved in the United States, the corporate duo will not wait to start their marketing. Coca-Cola and Cargill have said that they will start marketing Rebiana and products made with the ingredient where there is already approval and then they will simply take this marketing strategy elsewhere as regulations change. A Cargill spokesman said, “We will sell in the markets where regulatory approval already exists and we’ll work through the paths for regulatory approval in other countries around the world, including the US,” which proves that the companies are excited about taking their interest in this product to a very commercial and successful level. The representative went on to say that stevia will not only be used in beverages, but also in different foods.
Coca-Cola is expected to have the initial rights to use Rebiana in their beverages but then the pair of companies is expected to make the ingredient available for use in other products. Basically, the market will be wide open for use with this stevia based product and many food and beverage manufacturers in the west are simply keeping their fingers crossed waiting for the substance to be approved so they can start marketing more natural but great tasting products to their customers.
The creation of Rebiana/stevia sweetener is not just one that will benefit Coca-Cola and Cargill as this is a product that will be widely available, if it is approved by the FDA. It will give manufactures a less obvious choice when they are looking to make their food and beverage items more appealing to those that don’t want calories but do want something that tastes good and doesn’t have artificial sweeteners. Many market analysts believe that the USDA will follow the countries that have approved it and allow for Rebiana, a stevia based sweetener, to begin being used in the very near future. This is no doubt a development that should be exciting for manufacturers of these products as well as for those that consume them!
]]>Stevia is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, and like licorice can offer a bitter aftertaste. Blue California claims its isolation process for Rebaudioside A also does away with the bitterness.
Stevia is available for use in the US only as a dietary supplement, and not as an additive. It has a niche following among people, particularly diabetics and health-conscious consumers, who look for natural substitutes to sugar. The interest in stevia and the huge potential that exists in the face of known health hazards of sugar have caused manufacturers to band together to lobby the FDA for approval. Prominent among these are Coca Cola and Cargill foods who have teamed up to introduce a stevia based sweetener under the name Rebiana.
There is a sense in the market that approval may come soon. The FDA on its part says that the available data on stevia do not suggest that it’s safe for use as a food ingredient.
For now, stevia lobbyists and companies have two ways by which to garner FDA approval – they can classify the ingredient as “generally classified as safe” in which case they will need to have authoritative scientific research to back their claims, or they can petition the FDA for approval of stevia as a food ingredient.
]]>The FDA’s approach to this herb is ambiguous. Back in 1991, the agency slapped a ban on imports of stevia, a controversial decision at the time given that stevia (which is derived from the plant stevia rebaudiana), has been used as a natural sweetener by people in South America, particularly Paraguay and Brazil for centuries before being discovered by the US.
In 1994, the ruling was changed, and allowed the herb, which is as much as 300 times as sweet as sugar to be sold as a dietary supplement, but banned its use as an additive. What this essentially means is that you can buy a can of stevia, and use it to sweeten your teas and coffees, but companies aren’t allowed to add it to sweeten prepackaged products. If you’re a manufacturer, you can advertise it as a nutritional supplement, but it cannot be mentioned as an additive.
Proponents of stevia claim that the herb has been used to sweeten drinks in South America from pre-Colombian times. Its first usage by native tribes was recorded by a scientist in 1887, and throughout its history of usage there have been no side effects or heath hazards reported. They point to the fact that stevia has been found to have no calories, and provides all the sweetness of sugar and then some without the ill effects.
Toxicologists aren’t impressed, however. Animal studies, they claim have revealed some carcinogenic properties, and also possible negative effects on fertility, making stevia not so sweet a deal for the consumer.
Stevia is widely consumed in Japan and China, although in smaller quantities. Scientists worry that the presence of this herb as a sweetener in diet foods which are consumed in large quantities by Americans could have potentially negative health effects. And the US isn’t alone in its distaste for stevia. The European Union, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore have all banned the herb.
As far as the FDA is concerned, they’re sticking to their guns and noting that some experts advise that if you absolutely must add stevia to your coffee, do it sparingly, until further tests prove it’s safe to use.
]]>Paraguay has over the past decade increased its cultivation of stevia to 1500 hectares. Industry analysts are optimistic that Coca Cola’s interest in the herb could mean an economic boom in the country. Paraguay’s stevia industry is unfazed by the fact that stevia is allowed in very limited forms in the United States and European Union (EU). Many countries in Asia, notably Japan and China have taken to the herbal sweetener. China in fact, is presently the world’s largest producer of stevia, with around 20,000 hectares under cultivation.
Stevia lobbyists say the herb has faced stiff and unfair resistance from the sugar lobby, who they blame for stevia’s less than whole hearted acceptance by many Western countries. Studies conducted at the University of Asuncion have shown stevia is not only safe to be used by diabetics, but also has a host of other anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, making it something of a wonder herb with enormous potential. It also has one major advantage over another artificial sweetener, aspartame – it can be baked.
Stevia however has been dogged by fears over its potential carcinogenic properties, much like saccharine and aspartame before it. Scientists insist that more testing is necessary before it can be made freely available. Currently, the US allows stevia to be used only as a nutritional supplement, but prohibits its sale as an additive. The EU allows its use in cosmetics, or as a food supplement.
All these controversies over stevia notwithstanding, Paraguay continues to be gung ho about the sweetener’s potential for its economy. Knowing they face stiff competition from China over cultivation of the crop, authorities in the country are scrambling to gain recognition for the country as stevia’s place of origin.
]]>Because sugar was so hard to come by, evolution has taught us to get it wherever we can. As such, we are programmed to want it…and now we have it—everywhere. Unfortunately, with the increase in sugar production and distribution, also has come an increase in diseases and illnesses as a direct correlation.
Sugar’s effects are similar to those of many drugs, and can become an addiction. Many times the addiction starts in childhood, as we are offered candy as rewards, and so the mind begins to associate sweets with pleasure and other positive emotions at a very early age.
As it is metabolized, sugar bypasses many parts of the digestive process, and is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, raising the blood sugar level. It also produces a sharp rise in insulin, which is used by cells to absorb the sugar. Not only this, but sugar also causes the brain to release the chemical serotonin, boosting a person’s mood, and causing a mild feeling of happiness. As humans, we have been doubly reinforced to sugar; once by behavior-receiving it as a reward, and second, in the fact that it actually does produce some physical feelings of euphoria. Our bodies know that when they taste the sugar, the rush is coming.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average American eats approximately 43 teaspoons of sugar per day. That’s 140 pounds per year! That’s more than 10X more than is recommended. Is it at all surprising that such illnesses as diabetes, obesity, depression, panic attacks, and mood swings are rising? Is it any surprise that people are fatter than ever before? We set ourselves up for these problems by raising out blood sugar levels many times per day, only to have the bottom fall out and have to repeat the same process again. Just as quickly as the sugar high hits, it passes just as quickly, and we are left feeling tired and wanting another ‘fix.’ A catch-22 to this situation is that even though sugar produces a serotonin boost, too much sugar depletes this chemical, leading to depression. This bears out a vicious cycle in which the body begins wanting more sugar, more serotonin, all the while depleting the serotonin, making the cravings worse.
Many people on diets, or suffering from illnesses like diabetes, choose to use artificial sweeteners in place of sugar, but these also pose health risks. Aspartame, saccharin, and Splenda (sucralose), although approved by the FDA, still pose many dangers. In many places in the world-Japan the best example-a leaf is taking the place of sugar, in the form of stevia. It is a plant that has been in use in many parts of South America for centuries, and poses no health risks. Unfortunately, in the United States, stevia has been blocked from mass production by the sugar industry, and has yet to be accepted by the FDA. It has been approved for use as a food supplement, not as an additive, meaning that it can only be found in specialty stores. Perhaps, once more testing is done, stevia can be accepted as the norm-as it is in Japan, Brazil, and many other countries-and sugar will once again become the hard to find, delicious treat, to be enjoyed on special occasions.
]]>A: No. The final product contains absolutely no elements of natural sugar. Splenda is manufactured in a chemical plant, not in a sugar cane or sugar beet field. It is an artificial chemical sweetener devised by adding three chlorine atoms to a sugar molecule; it is a highly processed chemical. Splenda advertisements state that it is “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar,” but those are slick campaigns designed to confuse consumers.
Q: What is Splenda Made From?
A: Splenda is the brand name for sucralose. Sucralose is formed when the hydroxyl groups in a sugar molecule are replaced with chlorine molecules through a complex chemical reaction involving several highly toxic chemicals. This artificial chlorinated sweetener is manufactured in a chemical plant in Alabama; a bulking agent is introduced to create Splenda, the final product. The FDA has ruled that sucralose is not toxic in and of itself. However, sucralose is not a naturally occurring substance and is a highly processed artificial chemical sweetener that depends on chlorine to produce a sweet flavor.
Q: How does sucralose differ from sucrose?
A: Sucrose is the technical term for natural sugar, which is naturally extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets. Sucralose, on the other hand, is not derived from a completely natural, organic plant. The manufacturers of sucralose purposefully devised the name sucralose to sound similar to sucrose, which confuses consumers and therefore aids in marketing Splenda.
Q: Is the chlorine that occurs in Splenda different than the chlorine used in swimming pools?
A: It’s exactly the same. That chlorine chemical that’s used to disinfect swimming pools is the exact same type of chlorine that’s found in Splenda. We tell our children not to drink swimming pool water, but we unknowingly feed them products containing Splenda! Packaged foods containing Splenda should be clearly marked that they contain a chlorinated artificial sweetener.
Q: Is it safe to ingest a chlorinated food or beverage product?
A: No one knows 100 percent for sure whether it’s safe to consume Splenda, a chlorinated artificial sweetener. The FDA did review possible side effects from ingesting Splenda, including enlarged liver, enlarged kidneys, decreased white blood cell count, reduced growth rate for children, and lower fetal body weight. Although no long-term human studies have been conducted concerning Splenda’s safety, the FDA approved sucralose in 1998. Several health professionals have publicly expressed concern about possible health risks associated with ingesting sucralose. There are no studies that have detailed the risks of ingesting Splenda over the course of a lifetime.
Q: Who manufactures Splenda?
A: Tate & Lyle of Britain manufacture Splenda. And Johnson & Johnson distributes Splenda through its subsidiary business McNeil Nutritionals. Johnson & Johnson is a pharmaceutical giant. It makes one wonder if Johnson & Johnson will turn around and patent a drug that cures symptoms caused by ingesting Splenda over time!
Q: Has Splenda ever been tested on people?
A: Tate & Lyle, the manufacturers of Splenda, performed a few tests on laboratory animals, namely rats and rabbits, whose physiology varies greatly from that of humans. No long-term tests have been conducted on humans. Almost all Splenda tests were conducted by Tate & Lyle, which seriously calls scientific objectivity into question.
Q: Have any long-term studies been conducted to identify any potential side effects from ingesting Splenda over time?
A. No. Absolutely no long-term tests involving humans have been conducted to identify health risks. There’s no way to know if there are any long-term consequences from eating a chlorinated artificial sweetener; therefore, it’s impossible to ascertain whether it’s safe to eat Splenda over a prolonged period of time.
Q: How can the FDA approve Splenda if there are no studies of its effects on humans?
A: Simply because it can. The FDA acknowledges that Splenda is a chemical compound that contains chlorine. And that no long-term tests have been undertaken to study its effects on humans. And that numerous consumer groups have raised numerous concerns. So one has to wonder what ties the FDA has to the pharmaceutical industry in general, and to Johnson & Johnson in particular.
Q: Is Splenda as safe to eat as natural sugar?
A: Sugar has been safely enjoyed by humans for more than 2,000 years. But there have been zero long-term studies of Splenda involving humans, so it’s impossible to know whether Splenda is as safe as all-natural sugar.
Q: How long has Splenda been on the market?
A: Splenda has been available since 1998, when the FDA approved it. Johnson & Johnson has since invested about $40 million annually to convince consumers that Splenda is similar to sugar. There is nothing on Splenda’s packaging that states it contains chlorine or that it is an artificial sweetener. One marketing ethics reporter has called this “sleight of hand marketing.”
Q: Why isn’t chlorine named in a list of ingredients on Splenda labels?
A: For all packaged foods that contain Splenda, sucralose is listed as an ingredient. Splenda is just the brand name for sucralose. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener laced with chlorine that’s formed when hydroxyl groups are replaced by chlorine molecules. Although chlorine is not listed, sucralose is, which contains chlorine and is not all-natural sugar.
Q: Which packaged foods contain Splenda?
A: According to Johnson & Johnson, more than 3,500 processed foods contain Splenda.
Q: Does Splenda cost more than natural sugar?
A: Yes.
Fast forward to 1981. Although those two studies were never officially refuted by the FDA, it approved aspartame as a food additive. And the FDA approved aspartame as a soft drink sweetener in 1983.
It’s interesting to note that the National Cancer Institute reported a sharp rise in brain tumors in the general U.S. population from 1983 to 1987. The estimated annual percent change increased from 2.1 percent to 8.1 percent in men, and from 2.1 to 11.7 percent in women. Could it be connected to people consuming more products sweetened with aspartame?
Now hold onto your pants, because the events that follow are going to sound like a government conspiracy worthy of an X-Files episode!
Stevia, a natural sweetener derived from a shrub in South America, gained popularity in the 1980’s. Indigenous tribal peoples in South America used it as a digestive aid and topical wound healing agent for centuries. Clinical tests also show that this calorie-free sweetener can decrease blood sugar levels and increase glucose tolerance. The powdered concentrate is 300 times sweeter than natural sugar.
Celestial Seasonings, one of the largest all-natural herbal tea companies in the world, used stevia as a flavoring agent in many of its products. Completely without warning, one day in 1986 representatives from the FDA stormed into Celestial Seasonings and confiscated their entire stock of stevia without explanation. Celestial Seasonings was simply told that it could not use stevia in its teas. Period.
Then in 1981 the FDA officially banned stevia as a sweetener. The FDA claimed that stevia was an “unsafe food additive” despite its being widely available in many other countries. Millions of people throughout the world consume stevia every day, with zero reports of toxicity. Hmmm. . .Was stevia banned due to in-depth, conclusive studies, or simply to prevent it from competing with aspartame? Just who has more say-so with the FDA, independent scientists or the food and pharmaceutical industries?
You can bet there’s probably a pharmaceutical company somewhere that’s trying to patent a drug that “cures” aspartame-like symptoms! And you can probably bet that at least one executive from the food industry that manufactures products containing aspartame sits on that pharmaceutical company’s board of directors!
By 1994, 6,888 adverse reactions to aspartame were reported to the FDA. This sounds almost unbelievable, but more than 75 percent of all non-drug complaints to the FDA involve aspartame! Common complaints include headache, dizziness, mood swings, numbness, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and spasms, abdominal pain and cramps, vision problems, joint pain, skin lesions, memory loss and seizures. And before 1987, five deaths were reported to the FDA that were possibly caused by ingesting aspartame!
Of course, this is probably just a fraction of the adverse reactions that consumers experience as a direct result of ingesting aspartame. Some people may experience reactions and never put two and two together. And if they did make the connection, probably only a small percentage would take the time to report it to a doctor or to the FDA. So statistically speaking, for every adverse reaction that’s officially reported, 10 to 100 go completely unreported. That would bring the total number of aspartame-related cases to between 70,000 and 700,000.
A few studies have been conducted that show that aspartame is “safe.” But it’s important to note that those studies utilize a capsule form of aspartame–not the mixed form that’s the commonly used food and beverage additive.
Dr. Ralph G. Walton, Chairman of the Center of Behavioral Medicine of the Western Reserve Care System, has documented aspartame’s risks to the human central nervous system and mental health. He estimates that a full 35 percent of the population is at risk of adverse reactions to aspartame. Aspartame excites the central nervous system, causing seizures, depression and even mania. Dr. Walton found in one study that patients with a history of mood disorders experienced a higher number of adverse aspartame reactions than those with no history of mood disorders. These brain and mood changes can be easily triggered by elevated phenylalanine levels.
Further, aspartame is composed of 10 percent methanol. Yes, methanol. Methanol is also called methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol. The methanol breaks down into formic acid, a type of poison that ants can excrete; formaldehyde, a known carcinogen; and diketopiperazine or DKP, which causes brain tumors. Methanol is particularly toxic to the optic nerve, and its poisoning effects are cumulative over time. People who have consumed bootlegged whiskey have gone blind as a result of the methanol it contained.
The body’s absorption of methanol is sped up when aspartame is heated, as with hot beverages such as hot chocolate. George E. Leighton, an airline pilot, experienced severe blurred vision two hours after drinking hot chocolate sweetened with aspartame; he was completely unable to read the instrument panel and just barely averted having to make a crash landing. Mr. Leighton hasn’t consumed any aspartame since that incident, and he hasn’t experienced blurred vision since. Other pilots have even suffered seizures after consuming aspartame and have lost their flying licenses.
In Israel, consumers are warned not to ingest large quantities of aspartame and not to store products containing aspartame in hot areas. The FDA, on the other hand, has approved using aspartame in baked goods!
Yet the FDA continues to ban all-natural stevia, despite its safe use worldwide. In Japan alone, stevia represents 50 percent of the sweetener market, which also includes sugar. Japan even used stevia in its Diet Coke until replacing it with aspartame to comply with the worldwide recipe.
The American Herbal Products Association has petitioned the FDA to lift its ban on stevia. The FDA has yet to act. Stevia is not banned in any other country.
If you would like to encourage the FDA to lift its ban on stevia, write to the FDA Commissioner at Fishers Lane in Rockville, MD 20857. You might want to request that the FDA ban aspartame while you’re at it. To educate others in your local community, you might want to send a copy of your letter to your local newspaper.
To report an adverse reaction to aspartame or to receive more detailed information, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, P.O. Box 780634, Dallas, TX 75378. The Consumer Safety Network can also be reached at 314.352.4268.
]]>Will sugar always be more advantageous than Kaa-he-e? We cannot suppose this. The superiority of sugar as an energetic food will not be contested, but this does not stop our plant from being stronger as a sweetener.
Kaa-he-e, Its Nature and Its Properties, by Dr. Moises N. Bertoni, Paraguayan Scientific Analysis, December 1905
In 1887, while trekking Paraguay forests, Dr. Moises Bertoni quote-unquote discovered, in his words, “a very strange plant”. Because stevia was not native to the wooded area he was then exploring, the director of the College of Agriculture in Asuncion, Bertoni, was unable to find it at first. It would be another twelve years before he would find concrete evidence of the stevia’s existence - a tiny collection of stevia pieces. He quickly announced his “discovery” of the stevia species in an Asuncion botanical journal.
The doctor christened the stevia genus to pay homage to the Paraguayan chemist, Rebaudi, who would go on to be the first to product stevia extract.
An living stevia plant would not be uncovered until the early 20th century, when Bertoni received the previously unknown specimen from South American priest. He went on to finish his studies of the stevia plant, claiming the sweetening power of kaa he-e is so superior to sugar that there is no need to wait for the results of analyses and cultures to affirm its economic advantage … the simplest test proves it.
Bertoni’s studies paved the way for commercial stevia harvesting and production in the early 20th century. Having previously been limited to growth only in the wild, stevia quickly bloomed into a very real potential crop. Several years later, the first stevia crop was grown and harvested. From then on, stevia use exploded in South America and elsewhere.
Capitalism as it is brought word of this potentially marketable new product into the spotlight. The stevia debate was brought before the United States Department of Agriculture by a botanist in 1918 who described its remarkable sweetness
.
Shortly thereafter, the USDA studied stevia as a new sugar plant with great commercial possibilities
and took note of its apparent safety and ease of production.
In 1931, French chemists isolated glycosides - the chemical components that give stevia its sweet taste - and called them steviosides and rebaudiosides. The pure form of each of these compounds is up to three hundred times sweeter than sugar, although stevia’s sweetness has a slower development and lasts longer than table sugar. At high concentrations, it can take on a bitter, anise flavor.
Roughly 30 years ago, in the 1970s, the Japanese started looking at stevia as an alternative to other artificial and chemical sweeteners such as saccharin. The sweetener can be found in the leaves of the stevia plant, the liquid extracted from those leaves, and purified forms of the aforementioned steviosides. Since 1977, Japan has used all forms of this stevia commercially in food manufacturing, soft drinks, and as a table sweetener.
Today, Stevia demand and use are on the rise worldwide. Stevia-sweetened food can found in Asis (including Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Korea, and Thailand), in parts of the Caribbean, and of course throughout South America.
At present, stevia’s future in the United States and the European Union remains uncertain. While it’s legal to import, grow, and consume stevia here in the U.S. and the FDA moved in 1995 to permit stevia to be used as a dietary/food supplement, it has not garnered its full stamp of approval on stevia as a food additive. A difference without a distinction? Perhaps. Tomato, tomahto … Stevia’s proponents are all too happy and sweet to care.