What is Steviol Glycosides?

What is Steviol Glycosides?

Stevia also known as steviolin, steviol glycosides, Stevia Extract, a glycoside, was extracted by French scientists from the Compositae herb Stevia (or Stevia leaves) in 1931. Also known as stevioside, the chemical formula is C38H60O18, which is a glycoside extracted from the leaves of the Compositae plant Stevia.

Available as a sweetener, stevia has been used in South America as a herb and sugar substitute for hundreds of years. It has the characteristics of high sweetness and low calorie energy, its sweetness is 200-300 times that of sucrose, and its calorific value is only 1/300 of that of sucrose.

Stevia is a natural sweetener originating from South America, and it is also a commonly used food additive. It is stable to heat and does not cause blood sugar fluctuations, so it is often used as a food sweetener.

Stevia has been approved by most advanced countries and regions, such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Korea and Japan. The European Food Safety Authority (European Food Safety Authority) has also confirmed the safety of stevia, and is accelerating the amendment to approve the use of stevia in daily food.

Stevia is a new natural sweetener extracted from the Asteraceae herb Stevia (or Stevia leaf), which has been used in South America as a medicinal herb and sugar substitute for hundreds of years. Data from the international sweetener industry shows that stevioside has been widely used in the production of food, beverages and seasonings in Asia, North America, South America and the European Union. China is the world's leading producer of steviol glycosides.

Regulatory reports.

In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of stevia because it did not have sufficient evidence to prove that stevia was safe to eat, and received a report that natural herbal tea used stevia grass without permission. "Unsafe Food Additives". However, the US FDA has now designated stevia as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe, widely regarded as safe), that is, it has met the highest specifications in food and can be eaten and added in accordance with safe standards.

The World Health Organization report (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives Report) and the European Food Safety Authority (European Food Safety Authority) pointed out that the content of the substances tested in the reports raising doubts about the safety of stevia is unknown, and it is determined that it is not normal stevia contained substances. In repeated experiments over many years, researchers have increased the use of normal stevia to 500 to 1,000 times, and have not yet obtained a result that has negative health effects.

Steviol can be used as a flavor enhancer in the following products: stevioside and stevioside A are used in ice cream and soft drinks; stevioside is used to enhance the sweetness of chlorinated sucrose, aspartame and cyclamate; steviol glycosides and their salts It can be used for the ripening of fruits and vegetables; stevioside is added to food, beverages or pharmaceuticals as an aromatic flavor enhancer; it is used for salt-free storage of food. Stevia is used in the manufacture of hard candy along with lactose, maltose, fructose, sorbitol, maltitol and lactulose. Stevioside can be used to produce chewing gum and bubble gum, and can also be used to produce candies in various flavors, such as papaya, pineapple, guava, apple, orange, grape or strawberry flavored gummies. Stevia can also be mixed with sorbitol, glycine, alanine, etc. to produce cake flour. Because stevioside is thermally stable, it is particularly suitable for this purpose.

Various soft drinks, such as low-energy cola drinks, can also be sweetened with a combination of stevioside and high fructose syrup. Stevioside can also be used in solid beverages, health drinks, dessert wine and coffee