Steviva Brand Stevia Resouce Center

With the increasing incidence of diabetes, Stevia may hold a great promise in the future, said Sai Krishnakant, who has about 20 years experience in conceptualizing and planning agricultural projects, and has a stall at the fair to popularise herbal tea in different flavours and diabetic food supplement which has Stavia leaves as the basic constituent.

Explaining the benefits of Stevia, he told UNI that the herbal leaves are the only natural product that has been recognised as a sugar substitute all over the world. It is unlike synthetic sweetners available in the market and Stevia is calorie free with no side effects, he added. | Read more Finance news. |

Research has also shown that it is beneficial to persons suffering from hypertension and can be used as a heart tonic to regulate heartbeat, normalise blood pressure levels and for other cardio-pulmonary problems, he said.

Being many times sweeter than sugar, even a small quantity of Stevia is sufficient to get the same amount of sweetness as sugar in tea and other drinks, he claimed.

Krishnakant, who has launched two companies to promote Stevia farming and to produce more value-added products based on Stevia Rebaudiana, said he had initially procured the stock of the herbal plants from Japan before he started its cultivation in Nagpur.

He said the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, has now accepted his proposal to support Stevia farming. Stevia is a perennial shrub, belonging to the Aster family, that grows upto to one metre tall and has leaves 2 to 3 cm long, and is found in the northern regions of South America.

Stevia has as many as 200 varieties but Stevia Rebaudiana is known for its unique sweetness, he said, adding it is being commercially grown in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Central America, Israel, Thailand and China.