Stevia: what is it?

This perennial plant grown as annual in France is appreciated for its sweetening leaves. Tropical, stevia adapts perfectly and requires little care.

Appellations

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) also called sugarwater hemp or sugar grass is a perennial plant that belongs to the family Asteraceae (Asteraceae).

Botanical description of stevia

This plant aromatic produces evergreen and toothed, color green, close to mint, which have a sweetening power. It develops small white flowers all summer which give way to seeds in achenes. Melliferousits flowers are appreciated by the bees and other pollinating insects. Its leaves are edible, fresh or dried.

Origins of stevia

Stevia is native to South America and Central America where it colonizes the prairies.

Growing Requirements of Stevia

This small shrub also supports the full earth than pot culture. Sowing is capricious. Prefer planting a purchased foot. All the beauty seasonplace it at Sun in a soil rich in materials organic and above all well drained because it hates having its roots soaking in water. Water the soil as soon as it is dry because its roots appreciate the freshness. Do not leave water in the saucer. In summer, mulch the surface to maintain fresh soil. It fears temperatures below 10°C, bring it inside if you live in a cold region or keep it all year round in a greenhouse or veranda. Cut the flower buds so as not to exhaust the foot and to be able to harvest beautiful green leaves. Trimming is done regularly to maintain the desired silhouette. You can take stevia cuttings in summer, starting from a stump of the foot that you plant in a pot or from a stem of 15 centimeters taken. Remove the bottom leaves and keep only four leaves at the tip before planting it in a pot and kept smothered, covered with a bag. Once the cutting recovery, plant it in a large pot.

Use of stevia

Stevia replaces sugar, like natural intense sweetener, with the advantage of not having the calorific disadvantages of sugar. Stevia sweetens 10 to 15 times more than sugar, so a few grains are enough. As it grows, stevia produces leaves that contain a sweetening substance called stevioside. In general, the leaves are dried in the shade, in a well-ventilated room (it takes several weeks to dry), then ground into a powder (without the veins and stems). This powder can be stored in an airtight container and is used like powdered sugar. Consumed fresh, the leaves are picked all year round.

Integrate stevia to sweeten jams, sweets, gourmet desserts. It will also replace powdered sugar for coffee, herbal tea or tea.