In the market, stevia plants are available in several forms:
1. Dried leaf powder. It is a green powder which is less sweet than other forms of stevia. This powder is only 15 to 30 times sweeter than table sugar. It is a form that is not soluble.
2. Refined stevia plants. It is a white powder that is 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar. In this form of stevia does not keep all the “health” profits offered by this plant, but it’s still safer than artificial sweeteners. It is also easier to use as this form remains soluble.
3. Liquid form. It is very dark in color and available in different degrees of purity.
4. Tablet form. The advantage is that you can use stevia as a sweetener.
Cultivate Stevia Plants?
Provide a patch of fine soil, moistened with a spray. Bury a few mm, not more. Seeds germinate in two to three weeks. The seeds germinate at 25%. The plant is sensitive to cold.
Stevia demands regular watering, it may be satisfied with poor soil and likes the sun. However, the plant needs a large amount of phosphates. In winter, it can be kept as a geranium. The plants grow rather slowly.
Harvesting is done five times a year for six years, if care is taken to cut the plant at ground level after each harvest. Taking care of the roots, the plant is regenerated every time. Plants grow up to a meter and a dry weight of 70 grams. The weight of dry leaves can vary from 15 to 35 grams per plant.
Precautions with Stevia Plants
Potentially toxic? The Japanese feel they have demonstrated the safety of stevia plants and standardized stevioside extract. This has enabled the country and several others in Asia and South America to allow its use as a food additive.
Stevia and standardized stevioside extracts have been in use for about 30 years in these regions. However, some countries, including Canada, have not yet authorized the use of it.
The reason most often invoked to justify this caution is that stevioside could have a negative impact on human reproduction. Stevia plants are indeed considered in high doses, like a plant abortive. Potential carcinogenic effects have also worried health authorities.
After carefully analyzing all the data on these issues, the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded in 2006 that stevioside has no negative effects on reproduction and is not carcinogenic. But, as a precaution, some sources recommend that pregnant women and nursing mothers should avoid consuming large amounts of stevia.
The safe daily dose is set at 10 mg of stevioside per kilogram of body weight. This corresponds to 700 mg per day for a 70 kg adult. For people consuming stevia leaves powder, this equates to a maximum of 50 mg/kg, 3500 mg for an adult of 70 kg.
Stevia and Diabetes
It is recommended that people with type 2 diabetes, hypertension or hypotension who wish to take stevia regularly check their blood glucose or blood pressure, in order to adjust their medication if necessary.
Adverse Reactions
Stevia plants might cause allergies in people allergic to plants of the Asteraceae (daisy, dandelion, chrysanthemum, etc.) family, although no cases have been reported to date.
In a test conducted on animals, it has been found that stevia does not cause tooth decay.
Interactions
With plants or supplements: The effects of stevia could be added to plants or supplements that have a hypoglycemic and hypotensive action.
With drugs: The effects of stevia could be added to antihypertensive or hypoglycemic drugs.
On the shelves:
Stevia plant is offered in two main forms:
The powder of dried leaves: Its sweetness is from 10 to 15 times higher than that of sugar. It has been traditionally used to sweeten the taste of bitter herbal plants.
The standardized extract (90% of stevioside): It consists of a white powder soluble in water. It is also available in liquid form. Its sweetness is much higher than that of refined sugar (100 to 300 times) without any calories. It should be used very sparingly. The websites that make trade show conversion tables (specific products) that can be measured properly for this sweetener.
Taste: The whole leaf of stevia plants has an after taste that is a little bitter, that reminds one of licorice. The extract powder, when mixed with a liquid, would have less after taste. Flavored liquid extracts are also available (mint, vanilla, etc.) for better customer satisfaction.
