Stevia, flowering plant in the aster family grown for its sweet-tasting leaves. Touted as a healthier alternative to sugar, the leaves can be used fresh or dried to sweeten beverages or desserts and can be commercially processed into powdered noncaloric sweeteners.

Stevia (/ ˈ s t iː v i ə, ˈ s t ɛ v i ə /) [1] [2] is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. [3] It is extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. [4] [5] The active compounds in stevia are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside).

Flowers: Stevia has delicate white flowers. Bloom time: Stevia blooms on and off through the summer. Leaves: Medium-green sage-like leaves are serrated and ovate and grow opposite one another on a rangy stem.

Stevia — also called sweetleaf — is an easy-to-grow annual herb that is commonly harvested to use as a natural, calorie-free sweetener. Stevia’s pretty green leaves and tiny white flowers make a wonderful addition to any herb or container garden.

Jun 28, 2024 · “Stevia is my favorite calorie-free sweetener,” says registered dietitian Natalie Crtalic, RD, LD. “It’s a good alternative for people who don’t want to use sugars or other chemical sweeteners. In my opinion, using stevia is more natural than using other low-calorie, chemically processed sweeteners, like aspartame.” What is stevia?

Jul 27, 2022 · The stevia plant is a sweet herb with a unique flavour used as an alternative to sugar. Learn how to grow, harvest, and use stevia!

Sep 13, 2023 · Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a tropical perennial herb in the daisy, or Asteraceae family, native to Brazil and Paraguay. It’s grown for the leaves that are up to 40 times sweeter than sugar. The ovate serrated leaves grow on brittle branches and …

Dec 29, 2018 · Stevia plant, or sweet leaf, is an alternative to sugar that you can grow in your own garden. In this post we’ll cover a little background info on stevia, growing it from seed or starts, harvesting and using the leaves and making stevia extracts. What is Stevia?

Apr 16, 2024 · In this article, we offer some guidelines on how to grow the best stevia, harvest the leaves, and process them for your next baking day, or even just because they’re a pretty green plant in the herb garden.

Stevia is an ever popular herb to grow in the home garden. It can be used as a sweetener in baking, and in tea, and there is a commercial market for it. You will not be able to process it into the white powder sold in stores, but it is an interesting and challenging plant to grow.