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Stevia, a herbal sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar
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Saturday, 18 November, 2006, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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A Sai Krishnakanth
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herbal plants and related products in India, came to meet a new icon in the market, which claimed to be a substitute sweetener for sugar. It took a long 10 years for the herb, Stevia Rebaudina from Paraguay, to set as a significant equivalent for sugar for consumers in the health conscious Indian food sector.
The leaf with zero calorie, which is 20 times sweeter than sugar and about 200 times sweeter than sugar in the form of extract, has been approved by the medical and food scientists as a better substitute for sugar in daily usage. The herb has its importance in the treatment of diabetes, obesity, weight management, insulin secretion, skin toning and healing, while it is equally an ingredient in Japanese style pickles, dried sea foods, cakes, breads and confectioneries. Stevia has a role in other areas also like, it can be boiled down into soya sauce and can be added to any beverages, including soft drinks.
In India, the trend is positive for the herb in the food market, as more and more companies are thinking about the better option instead of the calorie friendly sugar. With a wide market for various forms of Stevia, as leaf (raw material), crystal powder, crystal tablet, crystal liquid, and candies in the form of Indian Penny Court for better memory power, dry ginger for digestion and holy basil, obviously in cough soothing products.
It is estimated that one lakh farmers in around one lakh acres of land is cultivating Stevia at present. The production of Stevia as a raw material would be around 3000 tonnes per year, which can be estimated as Rs 30-50 lakh market. With a growing market of daily consumables including sweets, beverages including soft drinks and the pharma products, the country needs around one crore tonnes of raw Stevia with a potential of Rs 5000 crore per annum.
The figures speak for itself on the scarcity of raw material in the market. Meanwhile, 100% of the crystal powder form in India is imported from countries like Korea.Since India did not have such technology to crystallise the raw material, the imported crystal powder was being repacked and exported earning nearly Rs 5 crore per year.
The major challenges for the Stevia market in India is competition with ordinary sugar, higher price of Stevia added products than the ordinary products and lack of raw materials, in general. If these challenges are tackled with care, India can even export the raw Stevia, which has a huge potential in the food, beverage and pharma sectors. Currently 80% of Stevia cultivation is in two countries -- Brazil and Egypt -- in which the Egyptian variant can be honored with the testimonial as the sweetest stevia available.
Japan is the largest market of Stevia, where it has been approved by the government as a sweetener. Korea, China, Taiwan and Brazil have also approved the herb as a sweetener while the US, Canada and Australia have approved it as a dietary supplement. In India, numerous Stevia farmers and around 100 players in the crystal powder market are yet to come up with any approval or regulation other than the technological certification from the Regional Research Laboratory at Jammu.
The Field Research Laboratory (FRL) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has recently shown interest in starting cultivation of the species in Leh, Ladakh. "Stevia Rebaudiana is a shrubby perennial herb with white flowers in cymes, native to Paraguay. It prefers moist and cool high altitude areas for quality production. A herbal sweetener, useful for hyperglycemia and diabetes, Stevia is likely to become a major source of high potency sweetener for the growing natural food market in the future," maintains the DRDO website on its project.
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, has already launched Stevia tea in the market. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is keen on supplying seedlings to the farmers and recently the Indian Institute of Toxicology has commenced authorising the raw material through safety studies. These efforts show the light to a better future for the Stevia market in India.
The author is managing director, Rishi Herbals, Chennai
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