Stevia is an incredibly sweet herb, obtained by a natural selective breeding process of the sweetest Stevia parent plants. The sweetener, stevioside, extracted from the plants, is 300 times sweeter than sugar. The fresh leaves have a nice liquorice taste. What makes the Stevia plant so special is that it can be used to replace sugar (sucrose). Many different uses of Stevia are already well-known: as table sugar, in soft drinks, pastry, pickles, tobacco products, candy, jam, yoghurt, chewing gum, sorbets... The dried leaves of Stevia are about 40 times sweeter than sugar.

The documented properties of Stevia are antibacterial, anti fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-yeast, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypoglycemic and hence a boon to diabetic people, hypotensive, tonic, and vasodilator. Indeed, the leaves contain diterpene glucosides with a sweet taste but which are not metabolised and contain no calories. The biggest part of the sweet glucosides consists of the stevioside molecule.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Bertoni) is a perennial herbaceous plant and is part of the Asteraceae family. This family includes well-known plants such as dandelion, sunflower and chicory. The history of the culture of Stevia mainly stems from Paraguay and Brazil. Originally Stevia only grew in the northern regions of South America but its cultivation has become popular worldwide. . The plant has been known for centuries by the native Guaranay-Indians for the sweet taste of its leaves. They use it, amongst other things, to make "mate" herbal tea. Stevia is often referred to as the "sweetest plant of the world".

ADVANTAGES

* It is a completely natural non-synthetic product, Stevioside (the sweetener) contains absolutely no calories.
* The leaves can be used in their natural state.
* Thanks to its enormous sweetening power, only small quantities need to be used.
* The plant is non-toxic.
* The leaves as well as the pure stevioside extract can be cooked.
* No aftertaste or bitterness.

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