Frequently Asked Questions

As with most things in life different people have differing opinions. This is especially true in fields of scientific research. To date, most major industrialized countries have reached the stage where they approve certain uses of stevia in particular forms as being safe to consume ...

In brief, Stevia is a plant, the leaves of which are incredibly sweet. It is native to a number of South American countries, where it has been used for centuries, for medicinal purposes and its unique sweet taste ...

Stevia is a versatile natural sweetener and is commercially available in four main forms: leaf powder, dried or fresh leaves, liquid extract and powdered form (usually white unless blended with colored additives) ...

Stevia is a fairly generic term that is generally used when describing a preparation derived from the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni) ...

Unfortunately not, stevia neither tastes like sugar nor does it behave in the same way during cooking. The stevia leaf has a bitter and liquorice aftertaste. However, products containing a large proportion of high quality steviol glycosides, namely rebaudioside A, have a far more pleasant aftertaste with a noticeable reduction or complete elimination of the liquorice flavor. It is important to be aware that as stevia is proportionally many times sweeter than sugar, over-use will contribute to an adverse aftertaste and an overly sweet product.

In cooking and baking you will find that as stevia does not caramelize in the same way as sugar, and so the final ‘crunch’ or ‘chew’ that one might expect is missing.

It is inevitable that each country will have its own common name for stevia, differing due to language, brand awareness and idiomaticity. Branded products such as: Steviva, SweetLeaf, NuNaturals, Now Foods, Planetary Herbals, Frontier, Superior Source, Erba Dolce, Stevita, Natures Bounty, Nature's Answer, Wholesome Sweeteners, KAL, Wisdom Natural, Natrol and Truvia can be found for sale through this website.

Both the plant and the processed sweetener tend to simply be known as stevia in most countries. Although, as this Wikipedia list shows, other names are also used:

• China: 甜菊 (tián jú – sweet chrysanthemum), 甜菊叶 (tián jú yè – stevia leaf)
• Dutch-speaking countries: honingkruid (honey herb)
• Czech Republic: stévie
• English-speaking countries: candy leaf, sugar leaf, sweetleaf (USA), sweet honey leaf (Australia), sweet herb of Paraguay
• German speaking countries: Süßkraut (sweet herb), Süßblatt (sweet leaf), Honigkraut (honey herb)
• Hungary: jázminpakóca
• India: madhu parani (Marathi), madhu-pattha (Punjabi), madhu patra (Sanskrit), seeni tulsi (Tamil), madhu patri (Telugu) – all of which translate to "sweet leaf."
• Israel: סטיביה (sṭīviyyāh in Hebrew)
• Japan: アマハステビア (amaha sutebia)
• Latvia: Stevija
• Norway: Sukkerblad (sugar leaf)
• Paraguay: ka´a he'ê (sweet herb in Guarani)
• Poland: Stewia
• Portuguese-speaking countries: estévia (Brazil), capim doce (sweet grass), erva doce (sweet herb, which may refer to fennel, funcho, too), folhas da stévia
• Romania:iarba dulce, frunza de miere
• Saudi Arabia: (Arabic: أوراق ستيڤيا awraq estevya, colloquial: ورق ستيڤيا warag estevya – "stevia leaves")
• South Africa (Afrikaans): heuningblaar (honey leaf)
• Spanish-speaking countries: estevia, hierba dulce, yerba dulce (sweet herb)
• Sweden: sötflockel
• Thailand: satiwia, หญ้าหวาน (ya wan, or sweet grass in Bangkok)
• Vietnam: cúc ngọt ("sweet daisy") or cỏ ngọt (sweet grass)

Wikipedia contributors. "Stevia." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia 9 Aug 2012 Web 13 Aug 2012

The steviol glycosides, used as a sweetener, are extracted from the dried leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant. Pre-extraction the dried plant material is produced in the same way that vegetable crops are i.e. warm air drying at approx. 70°C for up to three hours until the moisture content reaches 5-8%. This prevents decomposition of the steviosides and allows the resulting plant material to be stored for up to two years ...

The three main stages in the production of any stevia product are growing, harvesting and processing ...

An increasing number of countries have some form of stevia on supermarket shelves. However, the choice is often limited with little opportunity for easy price comparison. Here at Stevia Domain we are able to source stevia products from multiple retailers, selling in your country. So, no matter where you live in the world* we will have stevia products available for you. Simply select your country of choice from the box on the left of this page and we will list those stevia products that are sold in or ship to that location, with prices automatically converted to the regional currency.

In targeting specifically to your needs we separate products by category; Pure Stevia, Stevia Blends and Raw Stevia. Further filtering by product form, weight, flavor, manufacturer, shipping country etc., using the ‘refine your choice’ option on the left of the page, ensures you find the exact product you want.

We are also able to highlight retailers’ discounted offers and voucher codes both on our ‘special offers’ page and on the product page itself.

A large amount a material is available online regarding the health implications surrounding stevia. Some is current and scientifically accurate whereas most appears misguided, outdated, incorrect and inappropriately copied from website to website with little regard to its veracity. This article, and its successors, seeks to provide you with some of the facts, and quell some of the myths, with regards to the side effects, both positive and negative, of using steviol glycosides ...