Stevia rebaudiana

Description

Stevia rebaudiana is a perennial herb growing up to 2 ft tall. The flowers are white with light purple accents and no fragrance. Plants produce fruit which is ribbed spindle-shaped. Stevia prefers sandy-like soil.

Chemistry

In 1931, chemists M. Bridel and R. Lavielle isolated the glycosides stevioside and rebaudioside that give the leaves their sweet taste. The exact structures of the aglycone steviol and its glycoside were published in 1955.

Cultivation

Beginning in the 1960s,

Stevia rebaudiana is found in the wild in semiarid habitats ranging from grassland to mountain terrain, do produce seeds, but only a small percentage of the seeds germinate.

Stevia rebaudiana has been grown on an experimental basis in Ontario, Canada, since 1987 to determine the feasibility of commercial cultivation. Duke University researchers developed a strategic plan to assist farmers and exporters in Paraguay to compete in the global market for stevia.

Uses

Stevia rebaudiana has been used over centuries by the Guaraní people of Brazil and Paraguay, who called it ka'a he'ẽ ("sweet herb"), to sweeten the local yerba mate tea, as medicine, and as a "sweet treat".

In 1899, botanist Moisés Santiago Bertoni first described the plant as growing in eastern Paraguay, and observed its sweet taste.

When extracts of its leaves are processed into a powder, stevia is used as a sugar substitute in most of the developed world.

Based on the JECFA (Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) declaration, safe consumption of steviol glycosides for humans is determined to be 4 mg/kg body weight per day.{{Cite web |title= STEVIOL GLYCOSIDES, Evaluations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives |url=https://apps.who.int/food-additives-contaminants-jecfa-database/Home/Chemical/267 |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=apps.who.int}} It was also agreed by the European Commission in 2011 for use in food in European countries. Steviol glycosides have also been accepted in the US as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Stevia leaf and raw extracts are not treated as GRAS and their import into the US is not allowed for usage as sweeteners.

References

References

1. {{PLANTS
2. (2019). "''Stevia rebaudiana''". Missouri Botanical Garden.
3. Petruzzello, Melissa. (2017-12-12). "stevia {{!}} Description, Plant, & Sweetener". Encyclopædia Britannica, inc..
4. (3 July 2014). "Here's What The Stevia Sweetener Really Is – And Why Some People Think It Tastes Bad". Business Insider.
5. (February 2010). "Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) a bio-sweetener: a review". International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.
6. Bridel, M.. (1931). "Sur le principe sucre des feuilles de kaa-he-e (stevia rebaundiana B)". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences.
7. (2006-01-01). "Advances in Agronomy Volume 89". Academic Press.
8. Todd J. (2010). "The Cultivation of Stevia, "Nature's Sweetener"". Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
9. (2012). "Strengthening the competitiveness of the stevia value chain in Paraguay". Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness.
10. (Apr 2011). "Antidiabetic activity of medium-polar extract from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. (Bertoni) on alloxan-induced diabetic rats". J Pharm Bioallied Sci.
11. Bertoni. Moisés Santiago. (1899). Revista de Agronomia de l'Assomption
12. (2022-03-02). "Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) as a common sugar substitute and its application in food matrices: an updated review". Journal of Food Science and Technology.
13. "COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1131/2011".
14. "GRN No. 278 Rebaudioside A purified from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni".
15. Nutrition, Center for Food Safety and Applied. (2019-02-09). "Additional Information about High-Intensity Sweeteners Permitted for Use in Food in the United States". FDA.
16. (May 2025). "Import Alert 45–06".