It is commonly known as sweet leaf or sugar leaf and from the sunflower family(Asteraceae). It is 300 times sweeter than the sugar just because of the steviol glycoside. STEVIA has so many medically proved qualities of its own.
This herbal sweetener has a zero glycemic, zero carbohydrates and zero calories as well. So it is perfect for those people, who want to reduce the extra pounds from their bodies.
STEVIA has several medicinal healing properties also. It always fights against the heart disease and diabetes.
It is true that sugar is cheaper than this natural sweetener, called STEVIA. But, sugar brings many health problems as the ultimate result. Where as STEVIA reduces the medical bills. To make teas, coffees and other recipes people have to use a very little amount of the STEVIA powder itself. So the use of STEVIA is beneficial from different aspects as a matter of fact.
There are 240 species of STEVIA. Here are few of them only –
Stevia micrantha
Stevia ovata
Stevia plummerae
Stevia rebaudiana
Stevia salicifolia
Stevia serrata
Stevia tunguraguensis
Stevia viscida
Stevia anisostemma
Stevia bertholdii
Stevia crenata
Stevia dianthoidea
Stevia enigmatica
Stevia eupatoria
Stevia lemmonii