STEVIA PROJECT DETAIL/ATTACH-STEVIA PLANT DRY LEAF IMAGES
Stevia Cultivation
Description:
Stevia
Latin name : STEVIA REBAUDIANA
Family : Chrysanthemum
Common Name : Stevia
Parts Used : Leaves
Introduction :
Stevia leaves have functional and sensory properties superior to those of many other high potency weeteners. Stevia is likely to become a major source of high potency sweetener for the growing natural food market in he future. Although Stevia can be helpful to anyone, there are certain groups who are more likely to benefit rom its remarkable sweetening potential. These include diabetics, those interested in decreasing caloric intake, and children.
Plant Description :
Stevia rebaudiana is a small perennial growing up to 65-80 cm tall, with sessile, oppositely arranged leaves. Different species of Stevia contain several potential sweetening compounds, with Stevia rebaudiana
being the sweetest of all. Stevia is a semi-humid subtropical plant that can be grown easily like any other vegetable crop even in the kitchen garden. The soil should be in the pH range of 6.5- 7.5; well-drained red soil and sandy loam soil. Saline soils should be avoided to cultivate this plant.
Distribution :
Stevia is been successfully cultivated in the recent years at many areas of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerela, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. The increasing demands for natural sweeteners have driven the farmers in
India for Stevia cultivation in large scale.
Chemical composition :
Diterpene Glycoside is the group of natural sweeteners that have been extracted from Stevia. The leaves of wild Stevia plants contain 0.3 % dulcoside, 0.6% rebaudioside C, 3.8 % rebaudioside A and 9.1 % stevioside.
Uses of Stevia :
Stevia is safe for diabetics, as it does, not affect blood sugar levels. Stevia does not have the neurological or renal side effects of some of the artificial sweeteners.Stevia possess anti-fungal and anti-bacterial property also in addition to its other versatile uses. It can be safely used in herbal medicines, tonics for diabetic patients and also in the daily usage products like mouthwashes, and tooth pastes.Mild Stevia leaf tea offers excellent relief for an upset stomach Brief Investment Strategy:
100 KGS OF STEVIA EXTRACT CAN BE PROCESSED INTO 8-12 KGS OF FINAL PRODUCT ( WHITE SUGAR)
WHICH IS 8-12%, THE FINAL PRODUCT IS CALLED "STEVIOCIDES".
Cost per acre
( expenses such as land, irrigation, plants, plantation cost, natural manure, labour cost, bore well cost, processing machine cost & Miscecost)
Rs.1.50 lac per acre (one time cost)
Rs.0.20 per acrefartilizer+land devlopment
Yield from Each Acre: 2500 kg / year / acre
Total Produce per acre per year in Rupees: 2500 x 100 (BUY BACK) = Rs.2.50 lacs
Hence Profit per 1 acres per year in Rupees: Rs.2.50 lacs
STEVIA Basic formulas for low-calorie
Formulation and poduction of low-calorie baked goods require creative use of non-standard food ingredients that are not typically found in traditional bakery products. These ingredient eplacement can effect the multiple ingredient interactions in baked goods which influence texture, stability, flavor and sweetness. The use of these reduced-calorie non-standard food ingredients greatly effects the chemical and physical characteristics of baked goods
including flavor, grain and texture, richness, aeration, tenderness and stability. Caloric reduction in baked goods often requires a reformulation using various reduced-calorie ingredients to build in the desired properties of the finished baked goods. In addition, ingredient trials and experimental duplication are often required to understand these complex ingredient interactions.
Sugar provides many functional attributes to baked goods in addition to sweetness. The character of baked goods is gratly dependent on the chemical behavoir of sugar. In cookies, high sugar levels combined with low moisture provide the crisp and brittle texture desired in sugar snap cookies. In high moisture systems such as cakes, sugar retards the gelatinization of starch which has a tenderizing effect on cake texture. Sugar also provides humectancy for baked goods which provides moistness, tenderness and a perservative effect.
Intense sweeteners as Stevia can be used to replace the sweetness contribution of sugar in reduced-calorie baked goods. In order for them to be effective in bakery systems they must be heat stable like Stevia.
Reduction of sugar's bulk in baked goods leads to formula imbalance, producing undesirable results. The partial or complete removal of sucrose from cookies dough tends to produce a cookie with a flaky texture typical for biscuits. In addition, the replacement of sucrose with humectant ingredients tends to
produce a soft/chewy texture to the products. The overall changes in sugarreduced cookies tend to make them less acceptable to consumers in general. The complete removal of sugar from yellow cake would not provide a one third caloric reduction. In addition, structural failure occures in yellow cake when sugar was completely removed. Reduction of quality is small when only 25% of sugar is replaced, but this small reduction in sugar provided no meaningful reduction in calories.
The majority of insoluble bulking agents used in reduced-calorie baked goods are mainly dietary fibers derived from grain sources, legumes, fruits and stalks (i.e. celluloses). There are currently over 100 commercially available dietary fiber ingredients. Incorporation of insoluble bulking agents in baked goods often requires special handling or changes in normal production process. Dietary fibers tend to absorb large quantaties of water which dilute calories, but also result in mixing and dough handling problems. The behavior of reducedcalorie products can be affected by the rate of hydration of the fibers. Presoaking fibers prior to use is often necessary to provide the needed functionality.
stevia the sugar substitute
All over world there is increasing tendency towards consuming natural products and thus living a natural life and. At the same time our life styles have changed so much over the last 4-5 decades that sweeteners (either high calorie natural or proceeded sugars or high potency and low calorie sweeteners such as Aspartame) have become integral part of our natural daily diet.
Due to sedentary life styles that we all tend to lead these days the incidence of obesity and diabetic conditions are increasing dramatically. In India number of diabetic people in the age group of 25-45 is about 15% and is increasing at an alarming pace. In addition, we are largest consumers of sugar in the world. This single factor, we have come to understand, would greatly contribute to increasing the number of diabetic people and related problems.Stevia, botanically known as Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Family- Asteraceae) is a sweet herb. A perennial herb, Stevia is a member of the daisy family. The leaves are mid green and intensely sweet. The compounds in the leaves are called stevioside and rebaudioside and they can be more than 200 times sweeter than sugar. The plant bears greenish cream flowers in autumn.Although Stevia has been in use in Asia and Europe for years, it was only in the past couple of years that is really started to capture attention in the India market as a healthy alternative sweetener to sugar. Stevia has no calcium cyclamate, no saccharin, no aspartame and no calories. It is safe for diabetics, as it does not affect blood sugar levels; it does not have the neurological or renal side effects associated with some of the artificial sweeteners.Stevia is a new crop in that is gaining very high popularity amongst all type of sweetener users as most ideal substitute for
sugar. Sugar is basically a chemical that has grown in market over last many years. But in this age of changing life styles and people becoming more conscious of their health, the worldwide sugar consumption is going down and is getting replaced by low calorie sweeteners. Many of these Sweeteners are complex chemicals or many times naturals as well.stevia is gaining more acceptances amongst countries of eastern block such as Japan and Korea. There are many advantages of using Stevia over conventional sweeteners the main one being:
Stevia leaves are 20-30 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia leaves can be dried and stored. Stevia can be used in raw from. Stevia is short duration crop. It is harvested 3/4 times a year. The yearly yields can be in the range of 3-4 tons. Stevia can be sold @ 40-70 Rs per kilo so dried leaves and is thus economically extremely beneficial to growers.
Uses of Stevia leaves
Currently consumers have more inclination towards products that are claimed to be ‘All Natural ‘and ‘ Low CHO’. Hence, the food industry could grab a major share in the market if Stevia, the natural sweetener, is used as sweetening agent in product s like biscuits, jams, chocolates, ice-creams, baked foods, soft drinks, soda, candies and also common beverages like
dip tea, coffee and herbal tea that are targeted particularly at the diabetics and also the health conscious consumers.
Application in bakery, confectionery and beverage sector
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. Just 50 gms. of Stevia leaf can replace 1000 gms. of cane sugar. The sweetness of stevioside is non-fermenting and it does not display browning when cooked. This further widens its area of application in
baking. This also enhances the quality and safety to usage with a longer shelf-life period. Breads made with Stevia as an ingredient (for diabetics patients) have been found to display improved texture, softness and an increased shelf life.The confectionery industry is yet to reap the benefit of stevia, which has the potential to replace sugar as sweetening agent. The leaves can be used in chocolates and candies not only to meet the requirement of diabetic and health conscious consumers, but also to harvest the added advantage, that it does not encourage tooth decay. Stevia possesses an antimicrobial property and can be used in all the sweets that children are fond of. A mere fragment of the leaf is enough to sweeten the mouth for an hour. So stevia can also be used in the manufacture of chewing gums, mints, mouth refreshers and
even in pan.The soft drink manufactures have introduced several health drinks and many food supplementary beverage s, especially for the diabetics’ patients. The addition of Stevia leaves (dried) as such or as 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 rich in
nutrients, containing substantial amounts of protein, calcium and phosphorus.Stevia consists of 10-12% of stevioside, which can be extracted as liquid concentrate that can be used directly in soft drinks, beverages, chocolates etc.
Medicinal Properties of Stevia
Stevia is versatile herb with incredible sweetness that can be safely used in herbal medicines; tonics for diabetic patients and
also in the daily usage products, Stevia leaves can be used because of its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial property. Mild stevia
leaf tea offers excellent relief for an upset stomach.
A wet Stevia leaf bag provides a cooling effect on eyes (similar to using cucumber). The leaves effectively tighten the skin
and are good for wrinkles. Stevia has proved to give exceptional benefits when used regularly in skin care. It also has a
healing effect on blemishes, wounds, cuts and scratches.
Stevia is helpful in weight and blood pressure management. It has also been reported that stevia lowers incident of colds and flu
MEDICINAL APPLICATIONS OF STEVIA
Stevia extract are considered to have few calories, carbohydrates, fats and cholesterol. So , it can be safely used by diabetic persons.Stevia also acts as flavouring agent. It brings out true flavours in cereals, breads, icecreams, tooth paste and mouth wash. It is used to aid digestion, losing weight and stimulating appetite. The sweetening effect of these compounds is purely by taste, they are undigested and the body absorbs no part of the chemicals, they are , therefore of no nutritional value.one-fourth teaspoonful of dried leaves (finely ground) is claimed to have a sweetening value equal to one 1 cup of sugar. Stevia is a completely safe pecific herb for diabetes a hypoglycaemia, a flavour enhancer, it contains a variety of constituents, besides the stevioides and rebaudiosides the nutrients and good deal of sterols, triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins. Stevia also contains an extremely rich volatile oil comprising rich proportions of sesquiterpenes. So far these constituents probably have some impact on human physiology and may help explain some of the reported beneficial therapeutic uses of stevia.Blood-Sugar Normalizer:
it is probably the of steviosides themselves that has produced dozan of empirical and semi-controlled reports of antihypoglycemic action. In different places of the world, it is believed that stevia is helpful for hypoglycaemia and diabetes because it nourishes the pancreas and thereby helps to restore normal pancreatic function. In semi-controlled clinical reports, one also encounters this action. Similar trends have been reported in humans and experimental animals by other workers. In Brazil, stevia casules are officially approved for sale for the treatment of diabetes. Stevia shows a normalizing tendency to blood sugar i.e. it brings high blood sugar down, and has no effect on persons with normal blood sugar levels.
STEVIA FARMING IN INDIA
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Stevia plant grow best in rich, well drained soils like red and sandy loam soils. The soil should be of fine tilt and natural ph. Level. The land should be initially harrowed and then ploughed to break down the clods . The site should not be susceptible to flooding of or pudding. The raised bed should be of 15 cm (height)and 60 cm (width). The distance between two rows should be 40 cm and that between each plant 30 cm.The plants grow to a height of four feet after four months. The appearance of small white flowers means they have achieved their maximum sweetness and it is time for the stevia to be harvested. Under proper growing conditions, stevia leaves can be harvested up to four times a year—and they are always harvested by hand. Each Acre hosts 30,000 stevia plants and produce 2000 to 2500 kilograms of dry leaves
India being largest consumer of cane sugar along with largest diabetic population in the world. Stevia is ideally poised to make significant contribution in satisfying the Indian demand of natural low calorie sweetener.
Today Stevia Rebaudiana extract accounts for 40% of the sweetener market in Eastern block countries such as Japan, Korea and Malaysia In India Stevia Rebaudiana Benom was introduced in Maharashtra .
Leaf production comprises 80% of the cost of refined stevia, making it potentially the most profitable segment in the supply chain. Utilizing economies of scale and applying agronomic best practices to stevia farming will build considerable value.
Recent worldwide regulatory approvals have only now made it feasible to consider stevia as a large scale commercial crop. Improving agronomics takes time, and improving yields and plantation sizes will similarly evolve.
