John Myers
Stevia is a mixture of stevia glycosides. It is obtained from the Stevia rebaudiana plant, also known as sweet or honey herb. Stevia is used to sweeten food because it has about 300 times the sweetening power of sugar. It provides almost no calories and does not damage your teeth. Stevia has been officially approved as a food additive (E 960) in the EU since December 2nd, 2011. Commercially you can buy stevia in the form of dried leaves, powder, tablets, or liquid concentrate.
Origin
The Stevia plant originally comes from Paraguay, South America. Stevia has been used as a sweetener and medicinally for centuries in South America and Brazil.
Season
Stevia is available all year round.
Taste
Stevia tastes very sweet, but has a slightly bitter, metallic aftertaste.
Use
Stevia is mainly used to sweeten tea and coffee. It is now being added to more and more foods in Europe to sweeten them without calorie. Stevia is temperature stable and can therefore also be used for cooking and baking. When baking, however, you should not completely replace the sugar with stevia, as it has different baking properties than sugar. Doughs baked with Stevia get a bread-like, less fluffy consistency.
Storage
Stevia should be stored tightly sealed in a cool, dark, dry place.
Nutritional value/active ingredients
Stevia provides almost no calories. Since stevia is only used in very small amounts due to its high sweetening power, the contribution to the supply of vitamins and minerals is of secondary importance. Unlike sugar, stevia does not promote tooth decay.
