Stevia rebaudiana in Food and Beverage Applications and Its Potential Antioxidant and Antidiabetic: Mini Review

Abstract

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is a lasting hedge beginning in Paraguy, generally utilized as sweetener or as pharmaceutical. Stevia contains important natural antioxidants as a cancer prevention agents, for example, flavonoids and different phenolics, tannins, essential oils and other substances. Stevia is having low calorie as compared to sugar. Stevia produces a compound of diterpene glycosides that has a sweetness of almost 300 times when compared to sucrose. Currently used as a sweetener for foods, beverages, and also medicines. They remain stable at wide range of temperature and pH conditions in food products during processing and offer no shelf life limitations. Those diterpene glycosides do not longer set off glycemic response while ingested, making them worthy for diabetics and obese individuals. In future stevia is probably to become a major source of high potency low calorie sweetener for developing natural food and also medicine industry. This mini review article presents beneficial role of stevia on antioxidant and antidiabetic promoting properties.