Everlasting Gardener

  Joanie Lapic Herb Specialist
 

Stevia
Stevia rebaudiana

“Sweet Leaf” is found in tropical and subtropical parts of North and South America. In Paraguay the indigenous people have used Stevia for generations as a sweetener. Stevia rebaudiana was first described scientifically in 1887. The plant can be grown outdoors in temperate zones in the summertime (no lower than 45 degrees), requiring moist, sandy, acid soil, and full sun. It is propagated by semi-ripe cuttings in spring and summer, the seed being mostly infertile. To harvest, pick the leafy stems just as flowering begins, and then dry, to be ground into a powder or processed into extracts.

Uses~ CulinaryIts sweet-tasting glycoside, known as ’stevioside’ was isolated in the 1930s. This substance is 300 times sweeter than sucrose. The Japanese food industry has been using Stevia since the 1970s, after they developed an extraction technique that removed the color and bitterness. Dried leaves, and the powder made from the dried leaves, are 10-15 times sweeter than sugar. It is used as a safe sugar sub-stitute in foods and drinks. Stevioside is stable when heated, does not precipitate in acids, or cause fermentation. It has no glycemic index and negligible calories.~

Medicinal Stevia is used internally, in folk medicine, as a contraceptive, and to lower blood sugar levels.

(some information obtained from “Encyclopedia of Herbs” by Deni Brown)


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