Complex for production of industrial-use Stevia rebaudiana B.“If you love nature, nature will love you back”

Stevia RebaudianaBertoni Ka’a He’e

ORIGINSweet tasting herb Native to Paraguay

MOISES BERTONIThis scientist rediscoveredstevia and its propertiesin the XX th. century

JAPAN35 years ago, the Japanese learned about this plant and brought it to Japanfor climatization

SWEET HERB As it is called by the Guarani Indians who usedit for centuries to sweeten their herbal beverages

PROPERTIES

-SWEETENING POWERBetween 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.

- USESCan be used in food and beverages and is heat stable, so is ready for baking.

- SINERGISTIC EFFECTS. If used with sugar or sugar derivatives sweeteners it has a very good synergy.

MARKET SITUATION

• Consumers

Japan / South Korea: Main consumers in AsiaChina: consumption is increasing rapidly.

Malaysia / India / Egypt: Consumption in these countries is also increasingBrazil: largest consumer in South America

Paraguay: largely consumes in all its forms starting with raw leaves Argentina:

USA: sales of steviol glycosides as dietary supplement started 10 years ago, as sweetener started last year and is growinv very fast month by month.

Australia: Starting to consume in small quantities with a lot of growing potential.

Market Production2.000 mt. steviol glycosides – 90% produced in China500 mt. Rebaudioside A – 50% produced in Malysia

• Profitable and Income oriented crop Is a crop in high demand and the margin that is left to the farmers is higher than any other crop.

• Fair Traded The price paid to the farmers is secure and is increasing in every harvest

• Family labor intensive The whole family gets involved in the farming process because is labor intensive but in cleaning for instance do not require much effort so kids and woman can help.

• Organic Oriented The traditional way of planting stevia and the way we advise our farmers is oriented to an organic way of growing

• Soil recovery This is such an important technical assistance we give to farmers that otherwise will abandon their land after 5 years of intensive farming

PLANTS• Stevia Criolla (Creole Stevia) Is the native plant that grows from Botanic Seeds. All varities registered in the world come originally from a Criolla selection.

• Clonal Stevia Varieties and Lines This plants are developed during at least 6 years from natural selection of a criolla plant. The search is for a stronger, more rustic and with higher glycoside content plant.

• Planting Is done by inserting the seedlins in the soil in the months of May and June

• Cycles The cycle until the plant is ready for harvesting is 3 months, then every 2 months it can be harvest until next May when the plant rests.

• Harvesting and Drying Stems and leaves are cut from above 5 cms. From the soil and then are dryed under the sun for at least 4 hours. Then leaves are manually separated

• Final Cleaning This process is done at the farmers house where all members of the family try to clean the leaves the best they can as to obtain a better price.

Extracting Stevia

•What to extract Steviol glycosides Rebaudioside A

•How to extract Different steps Different technologies

STEPSThe sweetening agents of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

•Steviol glycosides - Primary processing

•Rebaudioside A - Secondary processing

Nom du composéStéviolStevioside

Stéviolbioside

Rebaudioside A

Rebaudioside B

Rebaudioside C = Dulcoside B

Rebaudioside D

Rebaudioside E

Dulcoside A

HOW TO EXTRACT ?

• Steviol glycosides are soluble in water and solvents:- This is the main property used to separate and purify them.

• But: Among thousands of plant molecules- 42 % of them are water and solvent soluble.

-Only 6 to 20% are Steviol glycosides.

HOW TO EXTRACT ?

• The first step is always to extract soluble Steviol glycosides with the adaptedSolvent and them separate them from the insoluble material

- 1 Infusion with a solvent- 2 filtration to remove insoluble material

• It is done with water alone- In batch systems

- In continuous systems- With dried leaves

• Aim: to solubilize as much as possible steviol glycoside avoiding too many impurities.

Click to edit master title styleProcessing Reb A 97%Processing Reb A 97%

SteviaPlantation

Dry leaves after harvest

Extraction

Reb A97%

Purification& Cristallisation

• Objective: To separate Rebaudioside A from other purified steviol glycosides molecules that are present in the steviol

glycoside extract.In order to achieve this separation is necesary to use a purification technology based on Crystallizers and

Centrifuges in an enviroment of Water and Ethanol. The differential solubility of steviol glycosides molecules in water / alcohol solvents permits the separation

under controlled physical conditions. In proper conditions rebaudioside A crystallizes alone and is separated from other steviol glycosides.

The crystallized liquid is then concentrated and all the ethanol evaporated before it passes through a spray dryer equipment that will give a powder with a minimum concentration of ≥ 97% Reb A.

Rebaudioside A is and must be considered and

labeled as 100 % natural sweetener