Facts about Stevia: True or false?

STEVIA is a sweetener

NOT TRUE

Stevia is a plant, you may know it as Stevia Rebaudiana. You should always refer to the sweetener from Stevia, also known as steviolglycosides on food labels. Just STEVIA is misleading. The sweet components from the Stevia leaf are extracted and this is called Steviol glycosides or sweetener from Stevia. So you now know one of the facts about stevia.

STEVIA sweetener tastes bitter

TRUE AND FALSE

When extracting the different types of steviolglycosides (sweeteners from Stevia) from the stevia leaf, you need to distinguish between the following two main types:

Stevioside

This kind of steviolglycosides tastes bitter. This is more common in the Stevia leaf and is cheaper. You can find this kind more often in stevia products from the supermarket.

Rebaudioside

This type of steviol glycosides tastes the sweetest. It is least present in the stevia leaf and is much more expensive to buy. You also have dozens of different types and grades in this category. I list a few: Rebaudioside A 98%, Rebaudioside A 95%, Rebaudioside M, Rebaudioside D etc.... So Rebaudioside A 98% is much sweeter than Rebaudioside A 97%. And Rebaudioside D does not taste bitter at all unlike Stevioside. But Rebaudioside D is really really high in price.

What kind of steviol glycosides the producer uses, you can not know as a consumer. So you may be buying a sweetener from Stevia that tastes bitter. This is what makes the misconception among many consumers after their first purchase of sweetener from Stevia.

"Yikes, that's bitter and I'll never buy it again!" But it's all more complex than that. Steviala uses only the sweetest and highest quality components from the Stevia leaf and no Stevioside!

NOTE: Steviala uses only the highest quality sweetener Rebaudioside A 98% and 99%! This is the reason our sugar substitutes do NOT taste bitter! Another fact of one of the many facts about Stevia!

ERYTHRITOL is used to compensate for the bitter taste of sweetener from STEVIA

NOT TRUE

So, as described above, there are definitely bitter-free sweeteners from Stevia extracted from the Stevia leaf. In addition, you can also make Rebaudioside bitter-free by an enzyme process.

So why are Steviol glycosides combined with Erythritol? Erythritol is a natural sweetener that is 30% less sweeter than sugar. Combined with steviol glycosides, you get a fine sugar substitute whose sweetening power is similar or slightly sweeter than sugar. Because weight in a recipe is also important. You can not bake a 4/4 cake and replace 200 grams of sugar with 1 gram of Rebaudioside. It is more difficult to bake with pure steviol glycosides in recipes, which are obviously much sweeter. That is why we mix erythritol with steviol glycosides and you end up with a tasty sugar substitute like Steviala Kristal Sweet. Make no mistake, however! Because even in this combination of sweetener from Stevia with Erythritol, the producer can choose Stevioside. So the stevia product can still taste bitter! One more of the facts about Stevia you know now!

Do you prefer pure Steviol glycosides? Take a look at our sweetener from Stevia powder!

Sweetener from stevia is expensive

Facts about Stevia: TRUE AND FALSE

Compared to sugar, some types of steviol glycosides or sweetener from Stevia may be or seem more expensive. As mentioned above, you have many different types of sweetener from Stevia or steviol glycosides. The highest quality types are because they are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar so are cheaper to use, but more expensive to buy. Take our Steviala Sweet powder, 100 times sweeter than sugar, 50 grams, equals the sweetening power of 5 kilos of sugar for 12,95€. Caribean Gold sugar cubes from AH cost 1,29€ for 500 grams, so for 5 kilos you pay 12,90€. The difference is 0.05 cents! Also compared to artificial sweeteners, Steviol glycosides are a much cheaper and more responsible choice! We hope this blog was usefull helping you with your knowledge and facts about Stevia.