Stevia - Natural Sweetener
Stevia is a natural sweetener with 200-400 times the sweetness
of cane sugar (sucrose) but only 1/300 of the calories. Extracted
from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana in the chrysanthemum family,
it has been used for centuries by the Guaraní tribes of
Pagaguay, Boliva and Brazil. It is widely used as a sweetener
in Japan and is permitted for use as a food additive (code number
960) in New Zealand and Australia. Please click
here to see the NZ Food Safety Authority's factsheet on Intense
Sweeteners that includes Stevia. Also, Schedule 1 of the Australia
New Zealand Food Standards code lists the permitted quantities
of stevia for various food groups. Steviol glycosides have been
approved for: flavoured dairy products, canned fruits and jams,
soy products, low-energy chocolate and sweets, breakfast cereals
and other cereal products, biscuits, cakes, pastries, tabletop
sweeteners, fruit and vegetable juices, soft drinks, cordials,
coffees, teas, gravy, sauces, salad dressings and more.
Stevia is heat stable, pH stable and non-fermentable. It does
not induce a gylcemic response when ingested (ie it has no effect
on blood glucose), so it is suitable for diabetics and others
on carbohydrate controlled diets. Compared with sucrose, the sweetness
from stevia has a slower onset and longer duration, and may have
a bitter or liqourice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
The sweetness is caused by different steviol glycosides called
stevioside, rebaudioside-A and rebaudioside-C. Rebaudioside-A
is the sweetest and least bitter component, stevioside is the
most abundant while rebaudioside-C is primarily responsible for
the bitter flavour component.
Stevia is available as a white, odourless crystalline powder
in varying grades - these differ in the composition of the steviol
glycosides and hence they have different flavour profiles. We
are also able to supply a stevia sugar substitute product where
the stevia has been mixed with maltodextrine to give a sweetness
comparable to 10x that of sucrose.
Please contact us for any further
information.
Table of available Stevia Sweetener Grades:
|
Total Content
%
|
R-A Content
%
|
ST Content %
|
R-C Content %
|
Sweetness
|
| Stevia R-A-98% |
99%
|
>98%
|
1%
|
|
400
|
| Stevia R-A-95% |
98%
|
>95%
|
3%
|
|
400
|
| Stevia R-A-80% |
95%
|
>80%
|
9%
|
|
400
|
| Stevia R-A-60% |
90%
|
>60%
|
26%
|
5%
|
350
|
| Stevia R-A-50% |
90%
|
>50%
|
33%
|
5%
|
350
|
| Stevia R-A-40% |
90%
|
>40%
|
40%
|
5%
|
300
|
| Stevia 90% |
90%
|
20-25%
|
50%--55%
|
7%--9%
|
250
|
| Stevia 95% |
95%
|
25%
|
60%
|
5%
|
250
|
| Stevia 90% ST80% without after taste through fine filter
processing |
90%
|
6%
|
80%
|
<2%
|
250
|
| Stevia 95% ST90% without after taste through fine filter
processing |
95%
|
5%
|
90%
|
<1%
|
250
|
| Stevia 98% ST95% without after taste through fine filter
processing |
98%
|
3%
|
95%
|
<1%
|
250
|
The Stevia R-A series have been enriched in rebaudioside-A, the
3 top grades have negligible levels of rebaudioside-C (primarily
responsible for the undesireable bitter taste of stevia). The
Stevia 90% and 95% products contain the natural ratios of the
different steviol glycosides. The ST80%, 90% and 95% have been
further processed to reduce the levels of undesirable rebaudioside-C.
|
