Nutrient composition of cultivated stevia leaves and the influence of polyphenols and plant pigments on sensory and antioxidant properties of leaf extracts

Abstract

Stevia rebaudiana is an introduced crop in India. The leaf and its extract although sweet have a bitter after taste that precludes commercial acceptability. The composition of the leaf refl ected a high nutritive value and polyphenol concentration averaging 4.15% by weight of dried leaf. Variably processed extracts enriched with polyphenols, pigments and a mixture of both were evaluated for sensory attributes by a semi trained panel when added to cofee and lime juice. Presence of polyphenols infl uenced the acceptability of the sweeteners marginally, while chlorophyll was found unacceptable in any of the extracts. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was synergistic when it was mixed with coffee and lime juice. Complete purifi cation of stevia leaf extracts to obtain pure glycosides is not necessary for it to become a commercially acceptable sweetener.

Nutritional Composition of <i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> Bertoni Leaf: Effect of Drying Method

“…In our work ash content was similar to reported by Mishra et al [10]. Tadhani and Subhash [6] reported a slightly higher amount of ash content and substantial amount of crude fiber [2,11,12]. Our study have shown the more protein content as compare to Kaushik et al [11] and Abou-Arab et al [13]; whereas, the fat content value was higher than that reported by Serio [4], and a valuable carbohydrate was found.…”

“…Stevia leaves are a good source of nutritional values regardless of methods of drying. It has been used as a substitute for sugar in place of pure stevioside in different food preparations and its high ash content indicates that the stevia leaves are good source of inorganic minerals [2,11].…”

Antioxidant properties of some lichen species

“…Phenolic components are potential antioxidants, free radical terminators (Shahidi and Wanasundara 1992;Kaushik et al 2010). These compounds are the main agents that can donate hydrogen to free radicals and thus break the chain reaction of lipid oxidation at the first initiation step.…”

New seminal variety of Stevia rebaudiana: Obtaining fractions with high antioxidant potential of leaves

“…The beneficial effects of these compounds on human health have been previously studied. Research aimed at obtaining Stevia extracts containing significant levels of sweeteners and these compounds (Gawel-Beben et al 2015, Kawshik et al 2010. The results showed that there is still no consensus on the ideal method of obtaining both compounds (sweeteners and bioactive compounds) in significant concentrations.…”