Stevia - The untapped Sweetner Market

STEVIA, botanically known as Stevia rebaudiana is a sweet herb, which is a native of Paraguay. This sweet herb is likely to become the maior source of high potency sweetener for the growing natural food market, in the years to come. Stevia finds its use as a natural sweetener, replacing the chemical sweeteners and even table sugar. The sweetness in the leaf is due to the presence of an intensive sweetening agent called "Stevioside". Experiments have proved that stevioside is 300 times sweeter than cane sugar apart from being a calorie free sugar. Hence Stevia has been named- as "CALORIE FREE BIO-SWEETNER OF HIGH QUALITY"

Stevia is. a new promising renewable raw stuff for the food market. The market potential for this natural sweetener

is still untapped. It is estimated that about 21 million Indians are presently suffering from diabetes and its proposed that by 2010 lndia's contribution to the diabetic global population would be a whopping 60 million. With such, a huge share of the population being diabetic, the new ventures in the food industry are focused entirely on them.

The soft drink manufacturers, in India are yet to exploit the sweetness of this herb by its addition in their product. Though many soft drinks are introduced, in the market with the prefix 'dia" connoting that it is meant for the diabetics, the usage of Stevia in such products would fetch a greater demand than for the one with artificial sweeteners.

The beverage industries like Tea and Coffee manufactures have just started introducing new products for the diabetics, realizing the major share held by them in the consumer market. As Tea and Coffee has been the non-replaceable best beverage for every Indian, this sector has enormous potential to come up when the natural sweetener, Stevia is used in their products.

All those "dia" prefixed products in the market at present are sweetened with artificial sweeteners that is, of course, equally sweet, but with undetectable side effects in due course. Now Stevia a natural sweetener, fully plant based would replace the artificial sweeteners completely. As Stevia leaf powder with no processing is highly safe to use, calorie free and moreover around 30 times sweeter than cane sugar, it can replace cane sugar too. Stevia leaf powder is so simple in making when cornpared to the cane sugar that involves very tedious steps to process.

THE VARIETY OF USAGE:
The present scenario is that people are more inclined towards products advertised with a brand name "All natural and "Low CHO".

The food industry would grab a major share in the market if Stevia, the natural sweetener is used as sweetening agent in the products like Biscuits, Jams, Chocolates, Ice Creams, baked foods, Soft drinks, Soda, Candies and the common beverages like Diptea, Coffee and herbal tea that are focused, in particular for the diabetics and the health conscious consumers.

THE CONFECTIONARY AND THE SOFT DRINK SECTOR
The confectionery industry is yet to reap the benefit of Stevia, which can replace the usage of sugar as a sweetener, at a relatively comparable cost of Rs.350 per kg of dried leaves of Stevia. Stevia can be used in chocolates and candies not only to meet the market demand by the diabetics, but also to harvest the added advantage of this herb that it does not encourage tooth decay. Stevia possessing an anti-microbial property can be used in all the sweets, which is of great fond to the children, as it does not enhance the growth of any bacteria in the teeth, unlike the sugar.

The soft drink manufacturers have introduced several health drinks and many food supplementary beverages, especially for the diabetics. Majority of the food supplementary products for the diabetics emphasizes on the fibre content, protein content etc. The addition of Stevia leaves (dried) as such or powder, in such products would not only aid in increasing the sweetness naturally but also helps in rejuvenating the pancreatic gland. Apart from this, Stevia is nutrient rich, containing substantial amount' of protein, calcium and phosphorus.

HOUSEHOLD USAGE OF STEVIA
The leaves of Stevia impart a pleasant flavour apart from increasing the sweetness of the product. As the Stevia leaves 'are used without much process, as direct leaf powder, it can be used in most of the typical Indian dishes like Chakkara pongal, Payasam, Ravaa ladoo, Sauces, Jams, Juices, Pickles, Tea, Coffee, and even herbal tea. Most of these products are available as readymade mixtures in neatly sealed packs. Stevia with them would implant additional acceptable flavour in the mixtures, besides easing the work:

Fresh Juice making is another such area that is still unexplored. The fresh fruit juice can be made cent percent fresh and natural by the addition of this natural sweetener, Stevia, instead of cane sugar. The sweet deprived diabetics can relish their favorite sweets with Stevia without any compromise for the sweetness, in addition to the health restoring activity of this herb.

Ground Stevia is excellent when sprinkled lightly over cooking vegetable, and meat, cereals and salads. Besides adding its own sweet taste, it significantly enhances the flavour and nutritional value of the food.

THE BAKERY AND THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY :
The bakery industry too holds a stand to bring an impact by the usage of Stevia. All cooked and baked food items like puddings, desserts can be sweetened with only very small quantities of Stevia leaf powder as compared to table sugar. Since 50, gm of Stevia leaf can replace 1000 gm of cane sugar. As the sweetness of stevioside is non-fermenting and the non-browning reaction when cooked, further widens its area of application in baking enhancing the quality and safety of usage with a longer shelf life period. Breads made with Stevia as an ingredient for diabetic customers has proved to show improvement in the texture and softness of the bread and increased shelf life.

Overall, a mere fragment of the leaf is enough to sweeten the mouth for an hour. So Stevia leaves afresh is more than a chewing gum, though Stevia can be used in the making of chewing gums, mints and mouth refreshers.

The Beverage industry has a widely open scope in blending Stevia. Leaves with Tea and Coffee. Blending ensures value addition of the product, simultaneously, easing the preparation of the drink. Stevia leaves can be made available in tea bags to make tea more delicious for the diabetics. Tea bags may be placed in any beverage desired and delightful lemonade can be prepared.

Stevia consists of 15-20% of Stevioside. It can be extracted as a liquid concentrate that can be used directly in the soft drinks, beverages, chocolates etc.

ITS MEDICINAL PROPERTY
Stevia is such a versatile herb with incredible sweetness that it can be safely used in herbal medicines, tonics, for diabetics and also in the daily usage products like mouth washes, tooth pastes. In case of mouthwashes and toothpaste, the Stevia leaves can be used, because of its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial property.

Studies conducted prove that Stevia has medicinal properties and so it can be used in health care products. Mild Stevia leaf tea offers excellent relief for an upset stomach. A wet Stevia leaf bag placed over the eyes (similar to using cucumber) for a few minutes effectively tightens the skin and smooths out wrinkles. Stevia has proved to ive exceptional benefits when used regularly in skin care. Stevia also has a healing effect on the blemishes, wounds, cuts and scratches over and above its antimicrobial property.

Stevia would bring a dramatic impact as a weight loss and weight management aid exceptionally. Stevia tends to lower elevated blood pressure. It has also been reported that. Stevia lowers incidence of colds and flu.

GROWING OF STEVIA
Stevia can be grown easily as any other vegetable either few in the house or a few hundreds in, the garden. The plant reaches a height of 45 cm in three months. This is a short day plant. The concentration of stevioside in the leaves of Stevia increases when; the plants are grown under long day condition. While cultivating Stevia on a large scale, this can be grown in well-drained red soil and sandy loam soil. The soil should be of fine tilth. An ideal planting density is 30,000 plants per acre with spacing of 23 x 40 cm in raised bed system. The soil can be enriched with a basal dressing of 25 MT of farmyard manure / ac.

As the plant cannot tolerate drought, frequent irrigation is required. It is recommended to have micro-sprinklers for better results. Irrigation is scheduled depending on the moisture holding capacity of the soil, light intensity and the wind velocity. Stevia can grow in places where the climatic conditions are favourable and the maximum day temperature not exceeding 38 deg. C and the night temperature not failing below 10 deg.C. First harvest can be made after four to five months from the time of planting. Subsequent harvests can be made every three months, for three consecutive years. The sweetener in the leaf is maximum till the plant flowers. Just before flowering, the plant should be cut leaving 10 cm from the ground, from where again new flush of leaves will sprout, which will be ready for harvest again in three months time. The plant yields around 3000 kgs of dried leaves from an acre plantation every year.

ROLE OF GROWMORE BIOTECH
Growmore Biotech Ltd., situated at Hosur is a tissue culture laboratory, working on several plants like Banana, Sugarcane, Paulownia, Casuarina several medicinal plants and ornamentals. Growmore has been doing research on Stevia for the past two years. Having imported the plants, Growmore has standardized the tissue culture technology and the cultivation practices for this plant in its biotech Taboratory and farm. Stevia, which is not available in India, has been multiplied in large numbers and introduced among the growers. The cornpany is supplying a few lakh plants every month to the farmers and a few thousands to the home medicinal gardens.

With extensive studies conducted at Growmore Biotech laboratory and the fields, it is found to be highly suitable plant for India, especially for sub-tropical climatic conditions. Though the investment on the cost of cultivation is around Rs.3.5 lakhs per acre in the first year, the returns are attractive. It gives immense scope for intensive agriculture and precision farming for those who are interested in high return agriculture.

NECESSARY INITIATIVE
Its high time to streamline necessary forces to have access to Stevia one of the best sugar substitute.

Steps need to be properly aligned to exploit the natural sweetness of Stevia. Food industrialists should start launching new products with the blend of Stevia, which would obviously provoke the need to grow more and finally resulting in more are under Stevia cultivation. Programmes need to be organized to promote this natural sweetener and create product awareness. This would be the right approach to unlock the sweetness of this herb, in to our day to day life.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONS PLEASE CONTACT
Dr.N.Barathi,
Director
Email : growmore@vsnl.com
website : www.growmorebiotech.com