Definition:

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SWEETEST®Stevioside Health Benefits:

SWEETEST®Stevioside is a class of natural non-nutritive sweeteners extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. It is a general term for glycoside compounds formed by the linkage of stevioside with various sugar residues via glycosidic bonds. The core characteristics of steviosides are their high sweetness and low calorie content. They are typically 100-300 times sweeter than sucrose, yet contain only about one-third of its calories. They do not affect human blood glucose metabolism, making them a significant alternative to traditional sweeteners such as sucrose.

■ Source

The sole natural source of SWEETEST®Stevioside is the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni), native to the Amazon basin region bordering Paraguay and Brazil in South America. The plant was first discovered by indigenous peoples, who used it to sweeten beverages. Stevia is an herbaceous perennial plant that grows to a height of approximately 1-1.5 metres. Its leaves are elliptical or lanceolate in shape with smooth surfaces and finely serrated margins. The leaves contain the highest concentration of glycosides, accounting for 4-20% of the dry weight. These glycosides are primarily concentrated within the vacuoles of the leaf mesophyll cells. Stevia leaves contain over ten glycoside compounds, with stevioside being the core component. This constitutes approximately 50-70% of total glycosides and is 200-300 times sweeter than sucrose, although it has a slightly bitter and metallic aftertaste. Rebaudioside A (Reb A) constitutes the second most abundant glycoside, accounting for approximately 20-30% of total glycosides. Its sweetness is 150-200 times that of sucrose, offering the closest taste profile to sucrose with extremely mild bitterness. Other minor components such as rebaudiosides B, C, D, E, and dukeoside A are present in lower quantities, each exhibiting distinct flavour profiles and varying degrees of sweetness. Following the commercialisation of stevioside, stevia cultivation has expanded from South America to temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. The major producing countries are China (with the main production areas in the provinces of Yunnan, Jiangsu and Anhui), Paraguay, Brazil, India and Thailand. China is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of stevia.

Particularities of SWEETEST®Stevioside:

Product Specifications:

SWEETEST®Stevioside is available in the following specification and contents, some products organic available:

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☑ SWEETEST®Steviol Glycosides Products SG 60%-95%

Product quality standards:

● GB 1886.355, Food grade, In-house

▶ Weight management

▶ Blood sugar stabilisation

SWEETEST®Stevioside Applications:

Thanks to their high sweetness, low calorie content and natural safety profile, The primary application domain for SWEETEST®Stevioside has become one of the most significant sweeteners in the global food industry. They also have diverse applications in dietary supplements and other sectors. They are a core alternative sweetener across all food categories. Within the beverage sector, stevioside is the main ingredient used for the sugar-free transformation of products. When combined with aspartame, it delivers zero calories while approximating the taste profile of traditional cola. In tea and coffee beverages, stevia extracts reduce bitterness. In functional drinks, stevia provides sweetness and, as it has no impact on blood glucose levels, it meets the energy replenishment needs of athletes. Its use in baking and confectionery is innovative, transcending the constraints of traditional sugar. In sugar-free baked goods, stevia replaces sucrose, reducing calories by 40% per 100 g and improving texture when combined with maltitol. Premium chocolate products use a blend of stevioside and inulin, maintaining 70% cocoa content while reducing sugar by 50% to achieve a texture similar to that of traditional milk chocolate. A stevioside and xylitol blend in sugar-free chewing gum delivers sustained sweetness while reducing the risk of tooth decay by inhibiting the growth of oral bacteria, making it the mainstream choice for children's gum.In dairy products and condiments, stevia glycosides are a key ingredient in health-conscious formulations. Yoghurts and cheeses utilise stevia to partially replace sucrose, reducing calories by 25% per 100 g while maintaining texture through the addition of whey protein. Special dietary foods precisely address niche consumer requirements. The usage of stevioside in infant complementary foods is strictly limited to below 0.01%, solely for the purpose of enhancing the natural mild flavour of cereals, in accordance with FDA regulations for sweeteners in infant nutrition. Diabetes-specific foods use a blend of stevia glycosides and resistant starch to achieve a glycaemic index (GI) value of just 35, which is significantly lower than the 70 typically found in conventional bread.

In the dietary supplement industry, SWEETEST®Stevioside has evolved from a flavour enhancer to a functional ingredient. It is an essential choice for improving the palatability of vitamin and mineral supplements, and is typically incorporated into tablets and capsules at a concentration of 0.05%-0.1% to mask the bitterness of B vitamins. In liquid supplements, it combines with natural fruit flavourings to effectively mask the odour of fish oil, thereby increasing children's acceptance by 40%. In functional supplements offering new health benefits, stevioside is blended with galactooligosaccharides in probiotic formulations. This combination provides sweetness and acts as a prebiotic to promote probiotic colonisation. In blood glucose management products, stevioside is combined with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to reduce postprandial blood sugar peaks by enhancing insulin sensitivity. In weight management products, stevioside substitution for sucrose reduces calories per serving by 50 kcal while increasing satiety through dietary fibre fortification. Consumer research indicates that meal replacement products containing stevioside achieve an average weight loss of 4.2 kg over three months. In foods intended for special medical purposes, stevioside combined with branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) provides sweetness and meets the high metabolic demands of cancer patients.

In cosmetics and personal care, SWEETEST®Stevioside offers the dual benefits of natural sweetness and functional activity. The smoothness of hair improved by 35% following the application of stevioside-infused hair oils. In feed and aquaculture products, stevioside offers a natural solution for sustainable farming. In the pharmaceutical industry, stevioside serves a dual role as both a flavour modifier and a therapeutic adjunct.

SWEETEST®Stevioside is classified as tetraditerpene glycosides. The human body lacks the specific enzymes required to break down its glycosidic bonds, meaning that it is barely digested or absorbed after ingestion. It has a caloric value of approximately one-thirtieth that of sucrose (≤1 kcal per gram of stevioside versus 4 kcal per gram of sucrose). It is primarily excreted in faeces and does not contribute to human energy metabolism. As a sweetener that substitutes for sucrose, stevioside significantly reduces total dietary calorie intake.

SWEETEST®Stevioside is not absorbed into the bloodstream via the intestines. Consumption does not elevate blood glucose levels or stimulate insulin secretion, and has no significant impact on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Diabetics can use it as a daily sweetener to avoid the blood sugar fluctuations caused by traditional sugars and improve their dietary experience. For individuals with elevated blood sugar levels, stevia glycosides assist in controlling dietary sugar intake and reduce the risk of insulin resistance. In healthy individuals, stevia minimises the short-term impact of refined sugar on blood glucose levels, thereby maintaining metabolic stability. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have all confirmed that stevioside has no adverse effects on blood glucose control in diabetic patients when consumed within the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) limit of 4 mg/kg body weight.

▶ Oral health

Cariogenic bacteria in the mouth cannot use stevioside as an energy source. This means they cannot produce the acidic substances that erode tooth enamel. At the same time, stevioside's sweet taste can substitute for sucrose, reducing the amount of substrate available for the proliferation of cariogenic bacteria.

Extracted from stevia leaves, stevioside avoids the potential safety concerns associated with synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose, making it suitable for populations with heightened safety requirements, including children and pregnant women. Multiple long-term toxicological studies indicate that stevioside exhibits no carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic properties and has no adverse effect on liver or kidney function. Regulatory bodies, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have identified no health risks associated with prolonged consumption.

■ Physical and chemical properties

SWEETEST®Stevioside is a white crystalline powder or granule, odourless and intensely sweet. It is readily soluble in water (solubility approximately 100g/L at 20°C), ethanol, methanol and other polar solvents, but poorly soluble in non-polar solvents such as diethyl ether and petroleum ether. It is stable under acidic (pH 3-5) and neutral conditions and retains its sweetness when heated above 100°C. This makes it suitable for high-temperature food processing methods such as boiling and baking. However, under alkaline conditions, it readily undergoes hydrolysis, which reduces its sweetness. It has a high sweetness intensity that does not exhibit linear concentration dependence and is typically blended with sucrose to enhance palatability and mask its slight bitterness. All steviosides utilise steviol (a tetraditerpene compound) as the aglycone, with varying numbers of glucose units (1-4) forming glycosidic bonds at positions C13 and C19. These glycosidic bonds resist breakdown at conventional food processing temperatures and retain over 90% of their sweetness even after high-temperature sterilisation (e.g. 121°C for 30 minutes). The human body lacks the specific enzymes required to break down steviosides, meaning they are scarcely digested or absorbed. They pass largely unchanged through the digestive tract and are excreted in the faeces. They do not affect blood glucose levels or contribute calories.

■ Production technology characteristics

In industrial SWEETEST®Stevioside production, dried stevia leaves are used as the raw material. The core processes are pre-treatment, extraction, purification, concentration, drying and refinement. After harvesting, the leaves are washed to remove soil and impurities, then dried at 60-80°C until the moisture content falls below 10%, which prevents the degradation of glycoside components. The dried leaves are then pulverised to a 20-40 mesh size to increase the surface area and enhance subsequent extraction efficiency. The most prevalent method is solvent extraction, employing either hot water (60-80°C) or dilute ethanol (30-50%) as the extractant. The solid-to-liquid ratio of the mixture is 1:10 to 1:20, and it is stirred and extracted two to three times for one to two hours per cycle. This process leverages the polar nature of glycosides, which dissolve readily in the solvent. However, the extract contains impurities such as proteins, polysaccharides, chlorophyll and organic acids. Purification processes, including filtration and centrifugation, resin adsorption separation, ion exchange purification and membrane separation techniques, enhance stevioside purity. The purified eluate is concentrated to remove the solvent, yielding a concentrate containing 30-50% solids. This concentrate is then processed via spray or freeze drying to produce a powdered product with a final moisture content of less than 5%.

For premium market applications, such as high-purity rebaudioside A products, standard steviosides undergo separation via silica gel column chromatography or preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to enrich valuable components, such as rebaudioside A.

☑ SWEETEST®Stevioside Products STV 60%-95%

☑ SWEETEST®Reb-A Products RA 40%-99%

☑ SWEETEST®Glucosyl Steviol Products 75%-95%

SWEETEST®Steviol glycosides powder SG 95% (Reb-A 40%-80%)

SWEETEST®Steviol glycosides powder SG 90% (Reb-A≥50%)

SWEETEST®Steviol glycosides powder SG 90% (Reb-A≥25%)

SWEETEST®Stevioside powder STV 90%

SWEETEST®Steviol glycosides powder SG 90% (Reb-A≥60%)

SWEETEST®Reb-A powder 99%

SWEETEST®Reb-A powder 98%

SWEETEST®Reb-A powder 97%

SWEETEST®Glucosyl Steviol powder GSC 90%

☑ SWEETEST®Reb-M powder RM ≥95%

☑ SWEETEST®Reb-D powder RD ≥95%