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Stevia rebaudiana - Bertoni.

Stevia

Author	Bertoni.	Botanical references	200
Family	Compositae	Genus	Stevia
Synonyms	Eupatorium rebaudianum - Bertoni
Known Hazards	None known
Range	S. America - Brazil, Paraguay.
Habitat	Infertile, sandy acid soils with shallow water tables. This is normally in areas like the edge of mashes and grassland communities.
Edibility Rating	4 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.5m.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds; South Wall By; West Wall By;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves.

Edible Uses: Sweetener.

Leaves - raw or cooked. A very sweet liquorice-like flavour[K]. The leaves contain 'stevioside', a substance that is 300 times sweeter than sucrose[183]. Other reports say that they contain 'estevin' a substance that, weight for weight, is 150 times sweeter than sugar[4, 46, 61, 105]. The dried leaves can be ground and used as a sweetener or soaked in water and the liquid used in making preserves[183]. The powdered leaves are also added to herb teas[183]. The leaves are sometimes chewed by those wishing to reduce their sugar intake[183]. The leaves can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable[105, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a sandy soil, requiring a warm sunny position[200]. It is a short day plant, growing up to 0.6 meters in the wild and flowering from January to March in the southern hemisphere. Flowering under short day conditions should occur 54-104 days following transplanting, depending on the daylength sensitivity of the cultivar. The natural climate is semi-humid subtropical with temperature extremes from 21 to 43 C, averaging 24 C. Stevia grows in areas with up to 1375mm of rain a year. Plants are not very frost resistant, but can be grown as half-hardy annuals in Britain, starting them off in a greenhouse and planting them out after the last expected frosts.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a warm greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Make sure the compost does not dry out. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on fast, planting them out after the last expected frosts. It could be worthwhile giving them some protection such as a cloche or cold frame for a few weeks after planting them out until they are growing away well.

Links

This plant is also mentioned in the following PFAF articles: Conservatory Plants.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Stevia rebaudiana

kripa Tue Sep 23 06:52:02 2003

The plant is very useful one for persons with NIDDM and with hypetension as well. it is an important breakthrough in the field of medicinal plants and nutrition

Stevia rebaudiana

sridharan a Thu Nov 6 15:22:14 2003

can we grow this ,stevia,in trophical climate.If yes what is the maxm teperature it can with stand?

Stevia rebaudiana

Rich Thu Apr 29 10:21:40 2004

It should be noted that there are possible side effects associated with Stevia. Futhermore it is banned for sale as a food or food ingredient in the UK, EU. In the US it can only be sold as a dietary supliment and not as a sweatner. See for example Food Standards Agency and Center for Science in the public interest.

To give the other side of the argument there are many site promoting its use which are critical on existing studies www.stevia.net

Stevia rebaudiana

galikim@yahoo.com Tue Dec 20 2005

Es excelente aditivo de azúcar sin caloria, especial para diabeticos tipo A y B. En el Paraguayexisten unas 600 hectáreas de cultivo y en e presente año fue declarado de interes nacional por el Gobierno. Se pretende darle mayor impulso para su cultivo, y exportar al Japon, EE.UU. y Francia. Excelente para los 50 millones de diabeticos que tiene los EE.UU. de Norteamerica. LA USAID en Paraguay ha dado apoyo para conocer mas de este cultivo y su mercadeoa este producto nativo de Paraguay. El precio que se paga en el Paraguay por las hojas es de un dólare el kilo, y falta incentivar más por un mejor precio y crédito para los productores, además de la extension agraria para la capacitación. Tiene futuro, y depende de que los Gobiernos interesados en importar la materia prima, como las hojas, las ramas y el producto cristalizado como azucar dietica, sea apoyado para que se le de mayor impulso. Me inicie en el cultivo de 1.000 plantas y he visto que es planta que realmente es el elixir de los guaranìes, ya que los indígenas los utilizaban para endulzar sus alimentos, además del uso medicinal. Es bueno para la hipertensión, el colesterol, como también para la purificación de la sangre. En los animales vacunos, pollos parrilleros, se ha utilizado a dosis de 0,15 gramos por kilo de alimentos y permitió mayor peso al termino de crecimiento

Stevia rebaudiana

ignacio vargas Mon Jan 2 2006

soy mexicano y nesecito stevia al 95% en polvo, podrian enviarme informacion de sus productos, mi correo elctronico es vargasnacho@hotmail.com

Stevia rebaudiana

susan Mon Aug 28 2006

Stevia Sweetener | Natural Sweetener | Stevia Drink | Stevia Extract | Sweet Leaf Stevia | Stevia Farming Technology Rishi Herbals - Best Stevia Sweetener, Calorie free, Medical Herbs, Natural Herb, Green Herbal Tea, Zero Calorie, Farming

Stevia rebaudiana

jaroslava Thu Feb 28 2008

Hello, can you please, send me the email adresse of the company, where I can buy "Stevia rebaudiana" pots. Becose I can not find what I really wanted. ja.je@hotmail.co.uk Thanks a lot Jaroslava

Stevia rebaudiana

paul norton Wed Feb 18 2009

where I can buy "Stevia rebaudiana"

Stevia rebaudiana

Sarah Mallett Sun Dec 6 2009

Hello, Yes, someone else wanting to know where Stevia seed can be purchased from in the UK. sarah.mallett@hotmail.com Thanks.

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