''Stevia rebaudiana'' is a plant species in the genus ''

Stevia Stevia () is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweetness, sweeter than sugar. It is extracted from the leaves of ''Stevia rebaudiana'', a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds in stevia are ...

'' of the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It is commonly known as candyleaf, sweetleaf or sugarleaf. It is a small seasonal plant which grows to a height of . It has elongated leaves that grow along the stems and are lined up against each other. The flowers are typically trimmed to improve the taste of the leaves. Stevia is a tender perennial native to parts of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

having humid, wet environments. Stevia is widely grown for its leaves, from which

extract An extract (essence) is a substance made by extracting a part of a raw material, often by using a solvent such as ethanol, oil or water. Extracts may be sold as tinctures or absolutes or dried and powdered. The aromatic principles of ma ...

s can be manufactured as sweetener products known generically as

stevia Stevia () is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweetness, sweeter than sugar. It is extracted from the leaves of ''Stevia rebaudiana'', a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds in stevia are ...

and sold under various trade names. The chemical compounds that produce its sweetness are various

steviol glycoside Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant ''Stevia rebaudiana'' (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients (or chemical precursor, precursors) of many sugar substitute, swee ...

s (mainly

stevioside Stevioside is a glycoside derived from the stevia plant, which can be used as a sweetener. Evidence of benefit is lacking for long-term effects on weight loss and heart disease risks. Origin Stevioside is the main sweetener (along with rebaud ...

and

rebaudioside Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant ''Stevia rebaudiana'' (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients (or chemical precursor, precursors) of many sugar substitute, swee ...

), which have 200–300 times the

sweetness Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

of sugar. Stevia leaves contain 9.1% stevioside and 3.8%

rebaudioside A Rebaudioside A (sometimes shortened to "Reb A") is a steviol glycoside from the leaves of ''Stevia rebaudiana'' that is 240 times sweeter than sugar. Rebaudioside A is the sweetest and most stable steviol glycoside, and is less bitter than steviosi ...

Description

''Stevia rebaudiana'' is a perennial herb growing up to 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

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s stevioside and rebaudioside that give the leaves their sweet taste. The exact structures of the

aglycone An aglycone (aglycon or genin) is the chemical compound remaining after the glycosyl group on a glycoside is replaced by a hydrogen atom. For example, the aglycone of a cardiac glycoside would be a steroid A steroid is an organic compoun ...

steviol Steviol is a diterpene first isolated from the plant '' Stevia rebaudiana'' in 1931. Its chemical structure was not fully elucidated until 1960. Steviol occurs in the plant as steviol glycosides, sweet compounds that have found widespread use as ...

and its glycoside were published in 1955.

Cultivation

Beginning in the 1960s, commercial cultivation had spread to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and the US, but also in mildly tropical climates in hilly areas of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

or India (

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

region). The plant prefers warm, moist and sunny conditions. The plant cannot survive frost during the winter and therefore

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s are used to grow stevia in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. ''Stevia rebaudiana'' is found in the wild in

semiarid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s ranging from grassland to mountain terrain, do produce

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s, but only a small percentage of the seeds

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an flowering plant, angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the sp ...

. ''Stevia rebaudiana'' has been grown on an experimental basis in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, since 1987 to determine the feasibility of commercial cultivation.

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

researchers developed a strategic plan to assist farmers and exporters

in Paraguay ''In Paraguay'' is a 2008 documentary film directed and shot by Ross McElwee, about his family's process to adopt a Paraguayan infant girl named Mariah. ''In Paraguay'' premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. The film combines archival foot ...

to compete in the global market for stevia.

Uses

''Stevia rebaudiana'' has been used over centuries by the

Guaraní people The Guarani are a group of culturally-related Indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi people, Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in what is now Paragu ...

of Brazil and Paraguay, who called it ''ka'a he'ẽ'' ("sweet herb"), to sweeten the local

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba maté (), ''Ilex paraguariensis'', is a plant species of the holly genus native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a bev ...

tea, as medicine, and as a "sweet treat". In 1899, botanist

Moisés Santiago Bertoni Mosè Giacomo Bertoni (1857–1929), known in Spanish language, Spanish as Moisés Santiago Bertoni, was an Languages of Switzerland, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Swiss-Paraguay, Paraguayan Natural history, naturalist, Botany, botanist and Anarc ...

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 A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...

in most of the

developed world A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...

. Based on the

JECFA The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international scientific expert committee that is administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization ...

(Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) declaration, safe consumption of

s for humans is determined to be 4 mg/kg body weight per day. It was also agreed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

in 2011 for use in food in European countries. Steviol glycosides have also been accepted in the US as

generally recognized as safe Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) is a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts under the conditions of its intended use. An ingredient with a GRAS d ...

(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

External links

* * {{Authority control Herbs Medicinal plants Sugar substitutes rebaudiana Plants described in 1899 Transient receptor potential channel modulators