Description

Stevia plant grows 2-4 feet in height with slender, branched stems, and flourishes well all over temperate, and some parts of tropical regions. It is cultivated as a commercial crop in Japan, China, Thailand, Paraguay, and Brazil. Today, China is the leading exporter of stevia products.

Stevia plants (Stevia rebaudiana)

Almost all the parts of the plant taste sweet; however, the sweet glycosides are typically concentrated in its dark-green serrated leaves. The Guarani Indians of Paraguay have used their leaves to sweeten drinks and foods and employed them in various traditional medicines. In modern times, it is widely used in foods in many parts of India, the East Asian region and South American countries.

Health benefits of Stevia plants

Stevia herb parts are shallow in calories. Parts by parts, its dry leaves are roughly 40 times sweeter than sugar. This sweet property of sugar in stevia is due to several glycoside compounds including stevioside, steviolbioside, rebaudioside A-E, and glucoside.

Stevioside is a non-carbohydrate glycoside compound. Hence, it lacks the properties that sucrose and other carbohydrates hold. Stevia extracts, like rebaudioside-A, are found to be 300 times sweeter than sugar. In contrast to sugar, however, stevia extracts have several unique properties such as long shelf life, high-temperature tolerance, non-fermentative and at the same time, being near-zero calorie items.

In addition, the stevia plant has many sterols and antioxidant compounds like triterpenes, flavonoids, and tannins. Some flavonoid polyphenolic anti-oxidant phytochemicals present in stevia are kaempferol, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, isoquercitrin, is steviol…etc. Studies found that kaempferol can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by 23% (American journal of epidemiology) [1].

Chlorogenic acid reduces the enzymatic conversion of glycogen to glucose in addition to decreasing the absorption of glucose in the gut. Thus, it helps reduce blood sugar levels. Lab studies also confirm a reduction in blood glucose levels and an increase in the liver concentrations of glucose-6-phosphate, and glycogen.

Certain glycosides in stevia extract have been found to dilate blood vessels, and increase sodium excretion, and urine output. In effect, at slightly higher doses than as a sweetener, stevia can help lower blood pressure.

Being a non-carbohydrate sweetener, stevia would not favour the growth of Streptococcus mutans bacteria in the mouth which is attributed to be a causative agent of dental caries and tooth cavities. On the other hand, certain compounds in stevia are rather found to inhibit caries causing bacteria in the mouth.

In addition, being a herb, stevia contains many vital minerals and vitamins that are selectively absent in artificial sweeteners.

Stevia plants use in traditional medicine

Stevia plants extract has been in use by native South Americans (where it is known as caa-he-éé or Kaa jheéé) to reduce weight; to treat wound infections, inflammatory conditions, swelling in the legs and as a tonic to treat depression.