Information On Sweetleaf

Information On Sweetleaf
Other Common Names: Candyleaf, Sugar Plant Of South America, Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf, Stevia rebaudiana

Range: S. America - Brazil, Paraguay

Habitat: Prefers a sandy soil, requiring a warm sunny position.

Stevia, a member of the Chrysanthemum family, is a plant native to
Paraguay. It has been used by the Guarani Indians since ancient times.
As a sugar substitute, it is available as a concentrated liquid,
crushed leaf or concentrated white powder. The liquid and leaf forms
have a slight herbal overtone, which reminds some of anise (licorice).

Dried leaves from this small shrub from the south of Brazil, have
been used as a local sweetener and cure-all for generations. Used for
centuries in parts of South America, stevia has been discovered in
recent years by much of the calorie-conscious modern world. It is now
widely-and legally-consumed by millions of people, from the plant?s
native Paraguay and Brazil to South Korea, Israel, and the People?s
Republic of China.

Stevia is a non-caloric natural-source alternative to artificially
produced sugar substitutes. The sweet compounds pass through the
digestive process without chemically breaking down, making stevia safe
for those who need to control their blood sugar level. It is used in
Japan as a noncaloric sweetener, but has not been approved for this use
in the United States by the FDA. It has been approved by the FDA as a
dietary supplement for nutritional benefits.

Stevia also has many therapeutic uses in other countries. In Brazil,
it has been found to lower sugar levels in diabetics. In China, it is
used to aid digestion, lose weight and even to stimulate the appetite.

Leaves - raw or cooked. A very sweet liquorice-like flavor. The
leaves contain 'stevioside', a substance that is 300 times sweeter than
sucrose. Other reports say that they contain 'estevin' a substance
that, weight for weight, is 150 times sweeter than sugar. The dried
leaves can be ground and used as a sweetener or soaked in water and the
liquid used in making preserves. The powdered leaves are also added to
herb teas. The leaves are sometimes chewed by those wishing to reduce
their sugar intake. The leaves can also be cooked and eaten as a
vegetable.

Known Hazards: The extract, stevioside, has reportedly been approved for use in foods in Brazil and Japan.

With regard to its use in foods, stevia is not an approved food
additive nor affirmed as GRAS in the United States. Available
toxicological information on stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its
safety as a food additive or to affirm its status as GRAS. However,
with regard to its use in dietary supplements, dietary ingredients,
including stevia, are not subject to food additive regulations.

• Strauss, S. 1995. The perfect sweetener? Technol. Rev. 98:18?20.
  
• Pezzuto, J.M., C.M. Compadre, S.M. Swanson, N.P.D. Nanayakkara and
  A.D. Kinghorn. 1985. Metabolically activated steviol the aglycone of
  stevioside, is mutagenic. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA). 82:2478-82.