Sugar substitute-stevia extract
2021-12-31
Stevia belongs to the Asteraceae family and is related to daisies and ragweed. Hundreds of years ago, people used the leaves of stevia shrubs to increase the sweetness of food. Its leaves have many uses. In traditional medicine in certain regions, steviol glycosides are used to treat burns, colic, stomach problems, and sometimes contraception. The stevia leaves are also chewed separately as a sweet food.
Today, stevia is part of the sugar substitute market. According to the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), high-purity stevioside is a substance extracted from the stevia plant and is generally considered safe for use in food. Because the extraction process is strictly controlled, natural steviol glycosides are obtained. It is by immersing the dry leaves of stevia in water, filtering the liquid to separate the leaves and stems, and further using water for purification-a completely traditional plant extraction method. Thus, a pure natural and extremely sweet sweetener-steviol glycoside that does not affect blood sugar levels is obtained. It is also a special food ingredient, its most valuable part is that it does not contain sugar and carbohydrates. It does not increase calories. Unlike other sugar substitutes, steviol glycosides are extracted from plants and have a glycemic index of 0.
