Stevia rebaudiana: Its agricultural, biological, and chemical properties

Stevia rebaudiana is a member of the Compositae, native to Paraguay. It pro duces a number of high-potency low-calorie sweeteners in its leaf tissue. T he sweeteners are diterpene glycosides and range between 30 and 320 times s weeter than sugar. Increasing consumer interest in natural food ingredients means that products like stevia sweeteners will be subject to increasing d emand. Such demand will need to be supported by a modem mechanised producti on system. The purpose of this review is to summarize the existing agricult ural, chemical and biochemical literature to provide a baseline for new res earch.