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.

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