Stevia rebaudiana
A small shrub, with slender stems and inconspicuous white flowers, seems to be of little ornamental value, but interesting because it contains a sweet glucosid. When placed in the mouth and chewed, a single leaf is so sweet as to almost be unpleasant. As a possible substitute for sugar. The species also has attractive possibilities in the diet of persons suffering from diabetes.
A certain interest attaches itself to the introduction of “Stevia rebaudiana,” as this is the plant which several years ago thrilled the sugar-manufacturing world with its supposed possibilities. It was discovered, however, that the sweetness, which was said to be 16 times that of cane sugar, was produced by a glycerin and not by a new sugar.
“This Paraguayan herb is of peculiar interest because of the very large saccharine content of the leaves. A tiny fragment placed on the tongue seems as sweet as a lump of sugar of similar size. Several years ago the discovery that this plant, then called Eupatorium, contained a substance many times sweeter than sugar, was heralded by the press and excited the keen interest of sugar planters all over the world. The substance turned out to be a glycerin and the anxiety of sugar interests subsided.” (David Fairchild.)
Distribution. — An herbaceous perennial belonging to the aster family. Found in the woods along the Monday River, in the southeastern part of Paraguay.
Stevia rebaudiana is recognized as the “sweet herb of Paraguay.” According to early reports by Gosling (1901) and Bertoni (1905, 1918) the leaves of this plant have been used by the natives of Paraguay since time immemorial to sweeten foods. The local use of the leaves of this plant as a food additive, for example to sweeten a mate beverage, was confirmed during recent field work in Paraguay (Soejarto et al., 1983).
Today, Stevia rebaudiana is used widely in Japan and China as a sweetener.
Sakaguchi and Kan (1982) mentioned that there is historical evidence surrounding the use of Stevia rebaudiana as a sweetener in South America, and that this evidence is found in the documents of the Spanish conquerors preserved in the National Archives in Asuncion, Paraguay.
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