Portal:Food/Selected ingredient/8
Stevia (/ˈstiːviə, ˈstɛviə/) is a sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds in stevia are steviol glycosides, mainly stevioside and rebaudioside A. Some 60 different steviol glycosides have been identified in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni.
Humans cannot metabolize the glycosides in stevia, and it therefore has zero calories. Its taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and at high concentrations some of its extracts may have an aftertaste described as licorice-like or bitter. Stevia is used in sugar- and calorie-reduced food and beverage products as an alternative to variants with sugar. (Full article...)